


The Weight of Responsibility

by KuzAnn



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-28
Updated: 2014-02-28
Packaged: 2018-01-14 01:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KuzAnn/pseuds/KuzAnn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vi has always been reckless, thus far it has never caused her much harm. Until now. Her mistakes have cost others dear, and she must take responsibility for her actions as she has never had to before. Will she be able to move forward, or crumble beneath its weight? Short story about Vi before the League.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Right then," Caitlyn clasped her hands behind her back and looked over the officers standing before her one last time. Her officers. She somehow managed to remember each of them by name and face, always did her best to ensure that everyone was able to get home safe to their family each day. In return, they trusted her with their lives and carried her orders out to the last letter. "Is everyone clear on what the plan is?"

"Yes ma'am," the alley that made for their makeshift meeting room echoed with the officers' replies. They had only managed to locate this particular band of crooks within the past few hours, and Caitlyn wanted the operation to be one decisive clean sweep. No loose ends. No crooks slipping through the cracks to threaten Piltover someday in the future. This particular group was suspected as being responsible for several bombings that had rocked the city of Piltover in recent months, it was easy to see why Caitlyn wanted things kept so tidy.

"Good. Move to your positions," Caitlyn gave the company a nod of dismissal and watched as they dispersed. The normal officers left in all due haste, and then there was the  _special case_  just standing there looking bored. Caitlyn gave a small sigh and slight roll of her eyes as she walked over to the woman.

Piltover's police department was extremely accepting in the way of diversity—as long as you did the job and did it well you could count on long term employment—but this woman was definitely one of the strangest to ever be taken into its ranks. Shocking pink hair cut short save for the bangs and a few braids trailing off the back, a large tattoo on the left cheek that read "VI", armor that looked like it was cobbled together from the odds and ends of a mechanic's workshop... Her body was lean with muscles like steel cords, conditioned from many years spent fighting on the move. However, the single most remarkable thing about this woman was the massive set of hextech gauntlets she wore. Each palm was larger than her own head, the fingers fully-functional and just itching to curl into a fist so she could deck someone with it. This was Vi, former criminal and the Piltover police force's newest recruit.

" _Vi_ ," the sound of Caitlyn's voice snapped Vi out of her boredom, and she focused her bright blue eyes on her new boss. "Do you understand what you need to do?"

"Yeah yeah," Vi's careless tone revealed what little respect she actually had for Caitlyn and what the Sheriff did. All Vi really cared about at the moment was trying out the new modifications she'd made to her gauntlets on the nearest criminal gang she could get her fists on; she would go into the hideout when she pleased, Caitlyn's plans be damned. "Wait for the signal and then go in, whatever you say Sheriff," in truth Vi had decided to go in as soon as Caitlyn had moved a sufficient distance away, preferably enroute to her sniping position in one of the surrounding buildings.

Caitlyn saved her grumbling over Vi's lack of respect for the time being and closed her eyes for a few moments. "Fine, good. Just do your best," she was so tired of Vi's attitude. Just plain tired, now that she thought of it. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so constantly worn out. Caitlyn turned her back to Vi and started toward the building that would provide her sniper's perch. To think she'd agreed to taking Vi as a "partner" to help reduce her workload, at this rate she'd be run into the ground within the month.

Vi watched Caitlyn as the Sheriff made her way to the designated building. She was good with a gun and all, really fond of making plans, but Vi just couldn't bring herself to take the woman seriously. Now that she thought about it, that was the same with most people. She didn't respect them and in turn they didn't respect her, it was just the way of the world for Vi, no point changing it.

Thirty seconds. One minute... That was enough time. Vi grinned; the crooks wouldn't know what hit them. She made her way to the hidden police line, sauntered right through it, broke into a run as those on the line called for her to stop.

The wall of the criminal gang's hideout rushed up to meet her, and Vi drew back one fist to knock a hole clean through it. One fist, that was all it took. Pure simplicity, artistically so, even. Flying debris from the blow knocked out one of the guards inside, and the other four raised their guns to fire as they shouted various threats or desperate orders. Vi was among them before they could fire. One, two punches to send a pair of them sailing out the hole she'd made in the wall, another two for the pair unlucky enough to have solid concrete behind them. That left just one.

Vi's head snapped around to where the last guard was as he half stood, half cowered in the hallway. The sight of a grown man in such a state was enough to get a laugh out of Vi as she advanced on him. Unlike his now-unconscious comrades, this guard had the good sense to know when he was outmatched and promptly turned to run. Running or fighting, didn't matter to Vi what the crooks did. It was funny when they thought they could escape, though.

"Hey buddy," the false friendliness was just as terrifying to hear as the constant jeering; it meant Vi was preparing to do something painful. Vi threw her right gauntlet forward, and a long tether with a weighted end shot out of a compartment in the gauntlet's palm to wrap itself around the man's waist. "We're not done 'til I've given you your lumps for the day," she jerked the tether, hauling the hapless guard back toward her as she sprang forward. The man had just enough time to cast a fearful glance over one shoulder before one of Vi's fists struck him in the lower back.

The absence of tensile force signaled the tether to release, and the rope slid back into its hidden compartment as the man let out a strangled cry of pain and flew into the opposite wall. He slid down a few inches and pushed off, causing Vi to start forward in the hopes that he would be dumb enough to resist her. To Vi's disappointment, he did this only to stumble down the hall a few steps and collapse in a bruised heap with a whimpering groan.

" _Tsch,_ " Vi gave an arrogant toss of her head and started past the unconscious guard.

Above, in one of the adjacent buildings, Caitlyn's handheld radio crackled to life: "Sheriff! It's—" The rest of the correspondence dissolved into unintelligible static. Caitlyn smacked the radio against the palm of her upturned hand and raised it to the window in attempt to get better reception. Nothing worked, either someone was jamming their channels or Caitlyn's handheld was malfunctioning. Neither situation was good, and Caitlyn got to her feet as she flipped through the other radio channels. Even the backup channels weren't working.

Caitlyn dashed toward the stairs; she had to get down to the ground, it sounded like something was wrong from the almost-frantic tone of the officer who tried to contact her. She was so distracted trying to think of what could have gone wrong that she failed to notice the high-pitch ringing that echoed through the stairway. The sound intensified two floors down, and Caitlyn stopped to listen when she finally noticed it, trying to figure out what its cause could be. As she flipped through the mental list of things it  _might_  be, the sound suddenly ceased.

Silence swept in to take its place, broken only by Caitlyn's pounding heart. Realization leaped to the front of her mind, but it was already too late. The gasp of apprehension that escaped her lips was immediately lost in the roar of the explosion.

The fourth floor of every building that stood adjacent to the gang's hideout exploded simultaneously. Debris and dust showered the streets and alleys as every officer still outside dove for cover. Something flew out of the explosion, leading a trail of fine dust and smoke, and landed on the cobblestone street with a muffled  _thump_. It was Caitlyn's purple top hat, the fabric tattered and burned, and the once-shining and polished scopes now reduced to bits of twisted metal tarnished by fire.

A large piece of concrete walling shaken loose in the explosion crushed the truck that Caitlyn had planned to smoke the gang out with. Its single massive tank contained sleeping gas that was meant to be pumped into the hideout's ventilation system, either incapacitating all inside or forcing them to flee where her officers could easily pick them up. Those manning the truck only just managed to scramble out of the way and avoid being crushed.

The keening screech and baritone groan of stressed metal could be heard amid the intense roar of the flames. The structural integrity of the damaged floors had been seriously compromised, and they would soon collapse down on themselves. All nearby officers rushed toward the building Caitlyn had been in when the explosions took place, hopeful that she survived the blast and willing to risk their own lives to find and save her.

Vi had been in the process of breaking down a reinforced door when the series of explosions rocked the hideout. She staggered slightly, then swung her fist and leveled the door in one shot. A shrill scream sounded from inside, and a small figure scampered to the farthest corner of the room.

"A kid?" Vi was surprised, to say the least. What was a kid doing in a place like this? A sudden chill ran down her spine as she looked around at the curiously short worktables and benches, strewn with high-quality materials and equipment used for bomb-making. She looked to the young girl of seven or eight years who sat curled in the corner, hands still dirtied from her work. The situation felt so familiar. Surely the girl didn't know what her stuff was being used for...

"Hey kid," Vi took a step forward, and the girl looked up. "You with them?" she jerked her thumb in the direction of the rest of the compound, where the sounds of gunfire could be heard echoing through the halls. Apparently Caitlyn's officers finally decided to move in.

"Y-yeah," the girl stared up at Vi with big brown eyes, following the woman's gauntlets with no small amount of fear.

"That's too bad, 'cause they're in for the asskicking of their lives," Vi said with a smirk and a careless shrug. "So, you wanna be with  _them,_  or with  _me_?" she pointed one large metal thumb at herself.

"You," this time the girl didn't hesitate at all.

"Smart kid," Vi smirked and put her hands on her hips. "Anyway, I'm off to brutalize some terrorists, so you better get yer tiny butt in gear and leave while you still can. Later, squirt!" Vi turned, gave the girl a half-wave from over her shoulder and made her way out of the room and down the hall.

The central rooms were just ten feet away now. Vi would get to deliver her special brand of justice to the men who'd orchestrated the bombings, and now all that stood between her and these soon-to-be punching bags was one heavily reinforced door. She knocked on the door with one knuckle, more to listen to the metal's resonance than request permission to enter. The tone sounded solid, and Vi smiled; all the more fun to smash it. The smile widened as she drew back both fists.

Inside, the men who were standing directly behind the door drew their guns as they prepared for Caitlyn's officers to enter. The door exploded inward as if propelled by a rocket, trailing hinges and twisted pieces of its frame as it bowled the two unlucky men over and pinned them beneath its considerable weight. It took a few moments for the rest of them to get over their initial shock, and they answered with a salvo of rifle fire into the gaping hole that once held the door.

"Oh no, bullets," Vi's sarcastic mocking could be heard even over the sound of the gunfire. "I've never seen  _those_  before!" She appeared in the dust of the pulverized concrete like a tsunami come to sweep them away, the single glove she held up to shield herself glowing yellow as it deflected the incoming bullets.

The gunmen continued firing, but ultimately it was futile; the kinetic distortion field projected around Vi's gauntlet simply deflected everything. Stray bullets flew everywhere, some burying themselves in the walls while others ricochet and struck a few of the gunmen. Once close enough, Vi knocked out each man with a single swing of her free fist. It was almost pathetic how weak they were once she got in close, though the fact didn't stop her from enjoying the experience immensely. Soon the only person left standing in the room was Vi herself, and she casually made her way to the office of the gang's leader. She felt invincible, totally alive and still raring to go.

"Knock knock," Vi quipped as she leveled the door with a single punch, same as all the rest. She entered to find the leader hiding behind his desk, revolver in hand.

The man stood and took aim, but Vi was much faster. She accelerated her gauntlets and let their huge momentum carry her fist into the man's face. His nose broke with a loud crack as he was flung backward into a bookshelf. Vi landed on his desktop with a grin and a hearty chuckle, pleased with how smoothly she'd carried out the maneuver. Now to drag the man's sorry ass back to the officers waiting outside.

Vi was just leaving the inner rooms when she spotted someone standing in the hall; the girl she'd met earlier in the workshop, her gaze fixed on Vi as she clutched a large journal to her chest. "Hey kid," Vi tromped over, the limp body of the crime boss held in one gauntlet and dragged carelessly behind her. "I  _told_  you to get outta here."

"My  _name_  is  _Holly_ ," the girl gave Vi a small glare and clutched the journal more tightly, unwilling to say what her body language so clearly stated. She was afraid to leave everything she'd known and go alone into the hands of complete strangers.

"Fine," Vi sighed, annoyed but at the same time relieved the girl hadn't followed her into the inner rooms. "We'll go together back the way I came in," she nodded down the hallway with her head and started off. Holly trailed a foot behind Vi and did her best to keep up with the woman's longer legs.

The sounds of gunfire that had echoed through the compound since Vi broke into the workshop grew louder as she and her little party neared the entrance, and they arrived to find a group of Caitlyn's officers engaged in a brutal shootout with the remaining criminals. Several officers lay sprawled on the stone floor, violet uniforms stained wet black from their own blood. Vi took an angry breath and lifted the crime boss's unconscious body; she might not respect them, but these officers were  _Vi's_  people too, and  _nobody_  hurt her people while she was around to do something about it.

"Stay here," Vi turned to look Holly in the eye, and the girl nodded and huddled in the hallway. It was time to get to work.

Vi activated the kinetic disruptor on one of her gauntlets and picked out her first targets. The criminals had made barricades for themselves with tables and other furniture, and though they were mostly protected from the attacking officers, this left them wide open for Vi. She swung, and hurled the body of the crime boss into a group of the gunmen. The man made a surprisingly good projectile, as he bowled all three of the men over with one shot.

This sudden attack from behind drew the attention of the gunmen away from Caitlyn's officers as they addressed the new threat. Even with one hand occupied Vi swept through them like a metal-fisted hurricane, and any who escaped her gauntlets did so only to be picked off by one of Caitlyn's officers. Vi thought it was some great teamwork. She knocked them down or scared them out and the officers took care of the rest. Just like that, the stalemate was over in under a minute, and Vi hadn't suffered so much as a scratch through it all.

"Hah, piece 'a cake," Vi grinned as she deactivated the disruptors and looked up at the officers who were even now making their way into the hall.

The faces of the approaching officers were grim as they took the weapons from the unconscious criminals or carried their fallen comrades away. They all seemed to be avoiding Vi's gaze, and some even looked... Angry.

Vi rolled her eyes. Everyone was such a stickler for the tiniest little detail. Hadn't she cleaned everything up just fine? She dusted a bit of grit off her shoulder and returned to the hallway where Holly was supposed to be.

Holly lay face-down on the cold stone floor, arms pinned awkwardly beneath her body and still wrapped around her precious journal. A growing pool of blood spread from beneath her small head and stained her pale blonde locks dark red. Vi choked on her own breath and coughed as all color drained from her face, unable to believe what she saw. She rushed to the girl, hoping against hope that she was still alive.

The cherished journal fell from Holly's limp arms and landed in the pool of blood with a loud  _spat_  as Vi took her in her hands. "Holly,  _Holly!_ " Vi shook her, as if the girl had merely fallen asleep or passed out from fright. But Holly was gone. Struck by a stray bullet during the battle, perhaps even by one that Vi had deflected herself. This little girl who had been caught in the same situation Vi had experienced as a child was gone, just like that.

A commotion erupted behind Vi as she knelt there with Holly's body in her arms, struggling to breathe and still unable to fully comprehend what had taken place. A deep and horrible pain shuddered through her throat, choked her and made her jaw ache, but the tears did not come. She just couldn't believe—

The loud report of gunfire sounded behind her, and a sudden intense pain blossomed in her abdomen. Fresh blood stained Holly's dirtied overalls and shirt. Vi's blood. She turned to find that the crime boss had regained consciousness and used her temporary distraction to his advantage.

Before he could fire again, before the few remaining officers could move to restrain the man, Vi was on her feet and thundering toward him. With Holly still held in one hand, she used the other to crush the man's fingers against the handle of his revolver. He screamed in agony as the bones of his fingers and hand broke under the immense pressure and desperately tried to pull away from Vi's unyielding grip. She released his hand, flung the gun against a distant wall, and took his head in her gauntlet instead.

Now she was angry. Angry at the criminals for taking in Holly and dirtying her gift with their own wretched deeds, angry at herself for being so reckless and allowing Holly to die, all for  _nothing_. This man who took the lives of others so lightly, killed others for his personal gain, she wanted to crush his miserable face into mush just for existing. Her fingers tightened with excruciating slowness as the man screamed and clawed at her gauntlet with his good hand, she wanted him to feel every second of his pathetic skull being crushed into oblivion.

"Vi stop it!" one of the officers moved forward and tried to pry Vi's gauntlet off the crime boss's face. "We need him for questioning! They were hired by someone else to do the bombings, Piltover won't be safe until we know!"

Vi gave him a rough kick that knocked him back a few feet. "The job isn't done 'til this bastard's  _dead_! There's plenty of goons for questioning in here, take your  _pick_!" She could feel everything now. Holly's dead weight in her left hand, the slow and rhythmic throb of her wound as it spilled warm blood down her legs, the horrible wracking pain in her neck and face at the intense grief that somehow refused to come... And the feel of the man's skull in her grip, the sound of his pathetic weeping. She wanted nothing more than to see him die slowly and painfully for what he'd done.

"Dammit Vi stand down!" other officers rushed in, too many to shake off at once. But even their combined strength could not budge Vi's vice-like grip. "Haven't you done enough?"

"Done enough?" Vi's voice broke, sounding much more shrill than she meant it to. "I practically did the whole damn job!"

" _Idiot_! The Sheriff could be  _dead_  because you rushed in!" the officer at her elbow sounded distraught, almost close to tears, even. "Why couldn't you listen to her just this once?"

"The hell are you talking about?" Vi kicked the man in the shin for using such a low tactic to get her to let go. "She's up in her perch, just like she's supposed to be!" She was still furious, but her fingers had ceased to tighten and only held the crime boss now.  _Please don't let it be true..._

"Every damn building surrounding this place exploded a minute after you went in," another officer took the man's place, her own voice hoarse and low with anger. "We can't even get to the floors above the ones that were blasted out.  _They didn't know when we'd come and you_ _ **told**_   _them we were here when you barged in!_ "

Slowly, Vi's gauntlet loosened its grip until its fingers were wide enough for the man to slide down to the floor with a relieved sob. The gauntlet shook for a moment, then dropped limply to Vi's side. Even the hand that held Holly slackened a bit. All feeling, save for pain, dropped from beneath her. It couldn't be real. This wasn't how it was supposed to work, everyone was supposed to get out okay in the end. It was all a nightmare.

For the first time in her life, Vi could do nothing, say nothing, and stood frozen on the spot as the officers moved around her to take the crime boss away. Some looked close to tears, others like they wanted to punch Vi themselves for her foolishness, all of them thoroughly miserable for the fact that their beloved Sheriff might be dead.

How could this happen?


	2. Chapter 2

No. She refused to die like this.

The pain was excruciating, more agonizing than anything she'd ever experienced before, but she had to keep moving. She had to find a way out. Smoke stung her eyes, fire blocked her path, but there, a gap in the rubble, a way to climb down. This would not be the end. She would see to it.

Loose concrete slipped beneath her blood-slicked boots, her leg caught on twisted metal that had been hidden inside the wall when it was whole. More pain, but she couldn't pay any mind to that now. She had to get out first, make sure her officers were okay, make sure no one else had been harmed.

To free herself from the metal catch took but a moment, and she was off again. It was hard to hear, her ears felt like they were stuffed full of cotton. That couldn't be right... She lifted a hand to her right ear. It was covered in blood. She checked her right eye next, it was swollen and bloody as well. So, that was why the world seemed strangely flat, like a moving picture.

No matter, just keep moving. It felt so hot, too hot, she had to get out before she could bear it no longer. The smoke thinned, a fresh breath of air struck her exposed skin, startled her with more pain. But the new air was good, it meant she was closer to... A place away from the flames and destruction.

It was so hard to think. She had to collect herself, had to show them that she was stronger than any criminal who dared to set foot in her precious city. She had defeated every adversary, every cocky newcomer who tried to take advantage of the city's people, all save for the man she had sworn to catch. No, this would not be the way she died.

There, unbroken floor, with only a few cinders and loose pieces of debris. She was out of the fire. Now to make her way down to the ground...

One flight of stairs, two... An officer had spotted her, ran for her with an expression of breathless relief. He tried to talk to her, but she still couldn't hear properly. She waved a hand around her ear to tell him. He seemed to understand and tried to hold the elbow of her unburnt arm. She pushed him away.

They had to see her strength. They had to know that neither debris nor fiery inferno could keep her from her duty.

Two more officers joined her, each tried to help only to be brushed away. They were nearing the exit now. How long had she been walking? It didn't matter now. She would know soon enough.

Mist from the fire engines that were even now trying to extinguish the blaze above covered the front of the building for a moment. Those waiting outside, numb and in despair, snapped to abrupt attention and relief as Caitlyn emerged from the mist with the search party trailing behind her. She was alive, but in terrible shape. Vicious burns covered the right side of her body, where she had taken the brunt of the explosion, save for her face which had been shielded by her raised arms. Her left forearm was burned too as a result of shielding her face, and the unburned parts of her body showed bruises, cuts and abrasions from the violent force that had knocked her down. Caitlyn's head was bloody from a few gashes suffered above her hairline, and her right eye had suffered injury as well and refused to open.

It was a miracle that she had survived, but she should not have been conscious, let alone standing on her own two feet. The rest of her officers swarmed in, begged her to lay down and allow herself to be taken to the hospital. Ah, she could hear them, so her ears were back to normal. She raised her left hand for silence, and their clamour died down immediately.

"Someone tell me what happened," Caitlyn's voice was strong despite the immense pain she was in, her clear eye was hard and focused with determination, and its smooth dark brow drawn down in a frown as she addressed her officers.

"It was Vi," a woman officer, stout and muscular, stepped forward to give the account. "She went in about a minute after you left, on the far side of the building where you wouldn't be able to see her, then a minute after that all the buildings around us exploded," she swept a hand around at the buildings with their gutted or collapsed fourth floors. "We moved in to back her up, suffered a few casualties... She's been shot too."

Caitlyn sighed and nodded. She was disappointed, but the sentiment did not fall only on Vi. No, it was also Caitlyn's fault for bringing her in the first place, for trusting her to help. "So where is she now?"

"In the front hall of the hideout. Last I heard she was in shock, they're trying to get her to move."

"Right, I'll go see her," Caitlyn's good eye closed a moment longer than it should have for a normal blink, and opened again to focus on the officer who had been speaking to her. "Show me."

From the look of intense worry on the officer's face it was obvious that she would rather have Caitlyn taken to the hospital immediately, but she obeyed her wish regardless. The officer started toward the other side of the building as Caitlyn followed, her strides carefully controlled and even. Once she was out of sight she could collapse she reminded herself, just finish things here and rest would come.

They found Vi walking slowly from the entrance of the hideout, in her arms a young girl, cradled with surprising gentleness by the massive gauntlets. Caitlyn's brow dropped down over her good eye in a worried frown and she picked up the pace. Something was definitely wrong, how badly had Vi been hurt?

"Vi," Caitlyn said the woman's name a bit louder than she had intended to, but to her surprise Vi said nothing in reply and only continued moving forward. It was as if Caitlyn had not spoken at all and was not even present. Caitlyn tried again, this time grabbing Vi's shoulder with her left hand. " _Vi!_ "

The touch got a reaction out of Vi, who slowly turned her head to look at whoever had touched her shoulder. Tension that had nested around her eyes as wrinkles and crow's feet made her face look several years older, a result of the harrowing situation she'd experienced in the hideout. Her mouth, which had been set in a grim grief-stricken line, slackened at the sight of Caitlyn standing alive and injured just behind her. "You're..." Vi broke into a fit of dry coughs as the tension in her neck was partially released. She shook as if from a high fever, though in truth it was due to blood loss and sheer nerves; no one had seen to her wound just yet and she had been dreading any news that might point to Caitlyn's demise. _Butat least Caitlyn wasn't dead too..._

"Sheriff please," another officer came to plead with her, a young man who had joined the police force only recently. "We have everything handled now. The injured are enroute to the hospital, the fire crews are seeing to the blaze, and we have cleanup crews coming in to assess the structural damage. Go rest, we have an ambulance waiting for you."

Caitlyn locked eyes with him for a moment, then lowered her gaze. It was hard to yield control after things had gone so wrong, but there was nothing for it. Her injuries needed attention, and soon if she were to return to service as quickly as possible. She turned to her partner again, "Vi."

Vi's own gaze had sunk to the pavement a few feet in front of her boots as she stood in numb silence. This time it was only the sound of Caitlyn's voice that roused her, and she looked up.

"Come on. The ambulance waiting," Caitlyn gestured for her to follow, her arm noticeably shaking as she made the movement. She wouldn't be able to stand much longer anyway, her body was screaming for relief of some sort, even if it had to make her collapse in the street.

The Sheriff of Piltover strode toward the ambulance, her gait becoming noticeably more sloppy and uneven as she walked. Behind her followed the woman with the hextech gloves, cradling the corpse of a young girl in her hands. A pair of medics opened the back doors of the ambulance for the two and one helped Caitlyn avoid bumping her injuries as she climbed in. The other turned to Vi and waited for her to climb aboard as well, then took a seat himself and told the driver to take the fastest route to the hospital.

Many hours later, after a team of Piltover's best medics and healers had cleaned her wounds and lessened the severity of her burns, Caitlyn lay in a hospital bed with the boredness of a busybody who has suddenly found herself with nothing to do. Her right eye was clean and working again, much to her relief. She still wanted to slap herself for bringing Vi along; she knew what Vi was like and that she would likely just charge in, plans be damned... Why had she brought her? It was like using a sledgehammer to do a scalpel's job.

Caitlyn took a deep breath and pulled the covers more tightly around herself with the arm that had not been attached to an IV drip. The burns were much less serious now and she could at least tolerate the feeling of the covers touching them for the sake of warmth. No use thinking about it right now. She was too tired, drugged to reduce the pain of her injuries. Now it would be best to sleep.

Several rooms down the hall, Vi lay in her own hospital bed with Holly's bloodstained journal in her hands; some kind-hearted officer had taken pity on her and brought it to the hospital after they'd copied each page back at the station. Holly's body had been taken to the hospital morgue after their arrival. It had been hard to let her go, she'd hoped the doctors could do something, but they'd told her repeatedly that Holly could not be saved. It had been far too late to help her, and the damage too severe. To see that tiny figure draped in a single white cloth and wheeled away on a stretcher, it'd felt like someone had torn Vi's heart out and stomped on it.

Vi reached up with an ungloved hand and scrubbed at her eyes, which were red and puffy from the tears that had finally caught up just as they arrived at the hospital. It was so difficult to come to terms with what had happened, she still found it hard to believe everything that had taken place. Her gloves and backpack had been set against her bedside table, more to keep them in sight than to give her the opportunity to use them.

Strangely Vi had not spoken at all after being put in her room, not even to harass the nurses who came to check on her. After regaining consciousness following her operation, she had laid in her bed and just stared up at the ceiling. The doctors had been unnerved by this and ordered that she be kept overnight, just in case. Her apparent emotional distress had them worried. Three hours after Vi regained consciousness, an officer had arrived with the journal and she had been thumbing through it ever since. She had to know this girl. She had to remember Holly and who she was, even if that was all she could do.

As Vi had been brilliant with machinery as a young girl, Holly had been a prodigy when it came to explosives and the properties of flame. Perhaps she'd possessed some latent talent for fire magic that allowed her to see flame as others did not, and Vi felt another twinge of intense guilt at having been unable to save her. If only Holly had lived, she would have been able to enjoy a brighter future. If only Vi had been more careful, told her to run farther down the hall before charging in.

The handwriting that filled the journal was surprisingly neat for such a young girl and easily legible. Her primary dream had been to light up the sky with fireworks, but what would have been Holly's crowning achievement was an invention the girl had named "fire flowers". They were to be constructions of "cool flame" that would rain down from fireworks displays where spectators below could catch and hold them in their hands before they faded away a few minutes later. The concept sounded remarkable, but the science and magical theory behind making such a thing were still lacking, as Holly had been unable to perfect it before her untimely death.

Vi's eyelids drooped, and she set the journal on her bedside table for later reading. She felt too tired to absorb it now anyway. With a long sigh, Vi slid herself farther under the covers and closed her eyes. She hoped there would be no nightmares, that was the last thing she needed on top of all this.

* * *

The doctors began to allow visitors in to see Caitlyn the next day. Among the first were her mother and father, who stayed to speak with her for a good hour. Her father was then reluctantly called away on business, leaving Caitlyn and her mother alone together. The family resemblance ran strong between mother and daughter, as Ashley had passed down her dark hair and shapely body to Caitlyn. She possessed an air of aging beauty, her face already showing slight wrinkles as the corners of her eyes and mouth and the monotony of her dark hair broken by a generous number of steel gray streaks.

Silence reigned for a few moments, and Ashley took her daughter's hand in her own. "Caitlyn, luv, I..." she fell silent, temporarily at a loss for words. Her fingers tightened slightly around Caitlyn's hand as she drew a shuddering breath. "I've always wanted what was best for you, tried to keep you safe without smothering your freedom... I never meant for—" Ashley stopped as she was overcome by the fact that she had nearly lost her precious daughter. Her face reddened and wrinkled as tears flowed from her eyes. It took her a few moments to recover, and only once she had relaxed her face did she speak to Caitlyn again. "I only asked that you find a partner so you would stop overworking yourself. I couldn't bear to see you destroy yourself like that, duty or no."

"Mum," Caitlyn squeezed her mother's hand in return and sat up, but Ashley waved it away.

"It's just, I feel that I never should have suggested it, to think it nearly killed you..." Ashley unfolded a handkerchief with her free hand and dabbed at the corners of her eyes with it. "I never should have suggested it. I'm so  _sorry_ , Caitlyn."

"It's not your fault for suggesting it, mum," Caitlyn took her mothers hand in both of hers. "Please don't blame yourself," she held one arm out to her mother, and the two shared an embrace. "You've actually helped me, by bringing up the overworking part when you suggested it. I know what I need to do now."

Ashley clung to Caitlyn with the tight embrace of a mother who never wanted to let go. This close call and all that had happened before, each had terrified Ashley to her very core and made her wish she had discouraged Caitlyn from taking up crime fighting in the first place. But another part of her would chime in to ask what use safety was if Caitlyn was not happy, and how safe they would truly be if things had continued as they were in those days. Ashley had done what she could to protect her daughter by inventing every piece of gear Caitlyn used with safety and efficiency in mind, but in the end all that separated her from a parent's worst fear was Caitlyn herself. She had to trust Caitlyn to make it through.

"What are you planning to do?" Ashley finally released Caitlyn and sat back in her chair, hands still trembling ever so slightly from emotion.

Caitlyn leaned back in her pillows, still tired from the events that had taken place just a day ago. "Reorganize the chain of command, make everything more efficient, from myself down to the newest officer. It'll take time, but I'm confident that I can make it work."

Ashley smiled and gave Caitlyn a light pinch on the cheek. "That's my girl," her voice was warm and full of relief, as Caitlyn's plans held hope for better health and a safer city. It was more than she could have asked for, a step up from simply getting Caitlyn a partner. "I'll leave so others can come in for a visit," she stood, leaned over and gave Caitlyn a quick peck on the cheek. "I love you, Caitlyn. Get better soon."

"I will. And don't worry, mum," Caitlyn returned the small kiss with one of her own. "I'll find a way."

A nurse bearing Caitlyn's lunch entered just after Ashley left and set it on a bedside tray. "Excuse me," Caitlyn lifted a hand as she called out to the nurse, who had just been leaving. "Someone else was admitted the same time I was, could you ask her to speak with me? Her name is Vi."

"I'm sorry," the nurse looked genuinely apologetic for not being able to fulfill Caitlyn's request. "She was checked out just this morning."

"Could you ask one of my officers to deliver a message to her? There should be one or two standing in the hall outside my door."

"Of course," the nurse waited patiently as Caitlyn took paper and pen from her bedside table and wrote down her message. Once the folded paper was in her hand, she let herself out of Caitlyn's room and handed it to one of the waiting officers with the request that it be taken to Vi.

The officer took the paper and nodded. "I'll see that she gets it," he tipped his cap to his partner and the nurse, then made his way down the hall. Hopefully Vi would be at her apartment now, and not in some old haunt where it would be difficult to find her.

Other visitors passed through Caitlyn's room that day, and all left with the distinct feeling that Caitlyn had only been giving them half of her attention. It was obvious to see that her mind was elsewhere, but none really paid it much thought; to think and plan was Caitlyn's nature, and it only made sense she would do so much of it following the fiasco with Vi. A clipboard with paper had been close by Caitlyn's side through it all, and she would often pick it up to jot down some note or thought, even in the middle of a conversation with one of her guests.

Caitlyn's final visitor for the day was a man she had known since the two of them were children, a brilliant inventor who had only recently received his big break in being allowed to head a research team that was investigating a new form of energy. He was of an average build with a clean-cut chin and short, carefully combed brown hair. The simple suit he wore was wrinkled from how hastily he had put it on, and small specks of dark soil flecked his hard leather shoes, suggesting that he'd recently walked through someone's garden in them.

"Jayce," Caitlyn gave the man a small smile as he seated himself by her bedside. "Finally got your head out of your books I see," her eyes held a faraway look to them for a moment, as she remembered some part of their shared past. "Used to be so hard to get you into them in the first place, remember?" She chuckled at the irony.

"Hah, yeah," Jayce's laugh was half-hearted, as if he felt ashamed for that fact. "I was always messing around back then, wasn't I?"

"Oh..." Caitlyn pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead with a sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." She had gone and said something hurtful to him without meaning it in the slightest. It was still a sensitive wound even after years had passed, and she'd just gone and poured salt on it.

"It's alright," Jayce waved the comment away with a false smile that seemed as painful to Caitlyn as a look of hurt would have been. "You look pretty distracted, don't worry about it."

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two as each retreated into their own thoughts and reflections. Caitlyn was the first to speak up as her eyes found their way back to Jayce's face. "Do you still bring the sunflowers to him?"

Jayce closed his eyes and nodded. "Every other week," he laced his fingers before his face and rested his lips against them.

"Have you made any progress with—"

"No," equal parts frustration and guilt could he heard in that simple word. He extended his thumbs and pressed them to either side of the bridge of his nose. "It was hard enough leaving the lab just to visit you. There's just not enough time, his ideas are just too far ahead..." Jayce emptied his lungs with a long sigh and fell silent.

Caitlyn turned back to the wall directly in front of her bed and folded her hands in her lap. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually. A breakthrough will come, or you'll get more time to yourself."

"Right," Jayce raised his head and unclasped his hands. "I haven't been able to ask how you're doing yet. I didn't hear anything about it until it was all over, but it had me worried when they told me how bad you were hurt," he reached down and retrieved the bouquet of assorted flowers he had hidden by his chair.

"They're lovely," Caitlyn had turned to face him again while he spoke, and she accepted the flowers with a grateful smile. "Are they from your mother's garden?" she took a freesia stem between two of her fingers and pulled its yellow blooms toward her nose so she could smell their strong, sweet scent. Once finished admiring the bouquet, Caitlyn passed the flowers back to Jayce so he could add them to those that had already been placed on her bedside table.

"Yeah, she had me bring you some, said she'd come by to visit tomorrow," Jayce adjusted the flowers in their new vase one last time and turned back to Caitlyn just as she picked up the clipboard to scribble something else down. "What's that you're working on?"

"Notes for what I plan to do once I'm out of here," Caitlyn kept her eyes on the paper until she had finished her thought, then turned back to Jayce and massaged her writing hand, which was hurting a bit from how much use it had gotten that day. "I have a lot to do, might as well work out what I can while I'm stuck here."

"May I see?" Jayce was much more at ease now that the conversation had moved onto a less painful subject. He leaned forward slightly in his chair and held his hand out to receive the clipboard.

Caitlyn passed it over, along with the pen. "Sure, you could even help me out a bit if you feel like it."

"Well, I think I can delay my return for a bit," Jayce twiddled the pen between his fingers and sat back in the chair, clipboard balanced on one knee. "Ready when you are."

* * *

Vi dragged her feet as she made her way back to the apartment she now called home. She'd walked to the Blue Avenue Park after being released from the hospital, and had spent the entire day out and alone with her thoughts. A quaint little sandwich place that she'd never been to before had provided a late lunch when she finally felt hungry enough. She hadn't felt like talking to anyone she knew, and avoiding her old haunts would guarantee that more than anything else.

Fatigue and aching feet had finally lead her home in the early evening, her gloves hung from their power pack and Holly's journal held in one hand. A shadow detached itself from the darkness beneath the stoop of her apartment building, and Vi stopped short as one of Caitlyn's officers made his way toward her. She prepared for the worst as he called to her.

"Officer Vi," he stopped once he'd reached her, folded piece of paper in hand. "The Sheriff sent this." He shoved the paper at her, which she took with some hesitation.

"Right," Vi's voice was raspy and somewhat dry from lack of use, and she unfolded the paper as the officer continued on down the street and out of sight.

_Vi,_

_Rest up and be ready to meet me once I get back to headquarters, I'll need you in the coming weeks._

_~ Sheriff Caitlyn_

Vi was surprised. She'd fully expected to be fired and incarcerated for how badly she'd screwed up, but this letter made it sound like Caitlyn was willing to give her a second chance. It was so unexpected that Vi didn't know what to make of it just yet, and her mind buzzed over the letter as she dragged herself up to her apartment.

The landing was empty as she reached her floor, and her apartment seemed strange to her after all that had happened, like someone else lived there. The power pack and gloves were propped against the couch as she plopped herself down on it, with Holly's journal set on Vi's coffee table. It was so generous of Caitlyn to give her another chance after what happened. Did she dare to show her face at headquarters again after what she'd caused? Vi stared at the wall for a few moments, and her eyes fell on Holly's journal.

Of course she did.


	3. Chapter 3

A week later the day came for Caitlyn to return to headquarters. Vi had decided to meet her a few hours after Caitlyn had arrived, to give her time to settle back in. She tried to tell herself that was the reason for the delay, anyway. The atmosphere at headquarters felt happier than it had for a while, but Vi couldn't help but feel nervous. Caitlyn had said she needed her so she wasn't going to jail, though Vi did find that she dreaded the inevitable chewing-out she was going to get. It had been hard enough watching as Holly was put in the ground, and now that wound was probably going to be torn open yet again.

Vi halted outside Caitlyn's office for a few moments to gather her wits. Her gauntlets were hung from their back-mounted power pack again, as they always were when she was not using them. She thought it would be best not to accidentally break something in Caitlyn's office during this visit, as Vi had done so many times before the incident. Vi took a deep breath, turned the knob and let herself in.

Caitlyn was seated behind her desk when Vi entered, her sniper rifle in pieces before her as she cleaned its components. From the care she showed as she picked up and cleaned each piece it was clear that the Sheriff had missed her weapon during her absence. Her pale violet eyes flicked up to her new guest, but her mouth did not move. Caitlyn's gaze alone was intense enough to make Vi look down after a few moments. It seemed she was expecting Vi to say something.

"'m sorry for not listening to you, Sheriff," Vi turned beet-red from embarrassment as she spoke. She'd never had to give an apology before, she'd always thought she was right, but there was always a first. "I want to do what's right. I want to protect Piltover and the good folks who call it home." Vi's frown deepened; it had all sounded so much better in her head. Her heart pounded uncomfortably hard against her ribs, and she chanced a quick look at Caitlyn's face to see how her boss was taking the apology.

"That's good to hear, Vi," Caitlyn's mouth turned upward in a slight smile, though her eyes did not share the expression and her voice was rather cold. "I would like to introduce you to your temporary partner, Charles Finnegan. He will be accompanying you for the next two weeks."

A man that Vi had not noticed before rose from his chair in one corner of the room and stepped forward. He was shorter than Vi, with a light build and short brown hair that he kept combed back from his forehead. On his nose rested a set of round glasses that looked similar to the type that school bullies loved to aim at, though there were very few petty bullies that would try to take a swing at him now. The irony of his current situation was not lost on him, as he was well aware of the power he now held when it came to keeping the peace. He stared at Vi with a gaze kept carefully void of emotion.

"Pleased to meet you," Finnegan's voice was a light tenor to match his thin frame, and Vi noted that the hand he offered was slightly smaller than her own.

"Same," Vi took his hand in a firm handshake. It was annoying that he'd been witness to her humiliating apology, and Vi wished she'd noticed him before giving it. She squeezed his hand a bit more than was comfortable to vent a bit of her frustration, as well as test how wimpy this new partner might be.

Finnegan's face remained expressionless, and he maintained the handshake despite the painful pressure from Vi's fingers. He withdrew his arm when she released him and clasped his hands behind his back, as if to state that he was not amused by her childish hand squeezing.

"You will be sharing a patrol route with Finnegan, as well as working with him on all cases you are given," Caitlyn set down a clean rifle part and picked up another. "I don't have any assignments for you at the moment, but be ready at any time should I find one for you."

Finnegan turned to Caitlyn and nodded, "Yes, Sheriff."

"Your first patrol is scheduled to begin in one hour. I'll call on you again if anything comes up," Caitlyn gave the two a nod of dismissal and went back to cleaning her rifle.

Vi stared at Caitlyn for a moment to see if she had anything else to say, then turned and left the office, Finnegan trailing right on her heels.

Their shadows disappeared from the fogged glass set in Caitlyn's door as the two walked down the hall, and the Sheriff smiled. "Well Vi, the clock is ticking on your review period," Caitlyn reassembled the rifle in a flash and sighted down its barrel. "Let's see if you're actually serious about this."

Vi didn't quite know what to think of her temporary partner yet, other than the fact that at the moment she wanted to find out how to antagonize him. Finnegan just seemed too good a target to pass up, and a cheeky nickname would be a great way to start. "So  _Finny_ ," Vi couldn't help but smirk at the butchering of Finnegan's surname. "What're we gonna do while we wait for patrol to start?"

Finnegan's expression didn't change, but the corner of his right eyebrow twitched noticeably. He retrieved a timekeeper from the pocket of his brown trenchcoat and checked the time. It was half past eleven. "Grab an early lunch, I suppose." Finnegan closed the watch with an audible  _click_  and tucked it back into his coat.

"Good idea," Vi realized she was hungry, now that he mentioned it; nerves had made her skip breakfast that morning and she was really feeling it now. "Any ideas on where to go?"

"There's a good sandwich shop nearby, we'll be able to eat on the go if we have any left over," Finnegan didn't wait for her reply and continued on to the main entrance.

Vi had to admit that a sandwich would be pretty good right about now, not that she was going to let  _him_  know that. She pretended to be uninterested as she trailed behind him. Maybe he would be more fun on patrol.

One hour and a few bad jokes later, Vi and her new partner were on their way to their designated patrol route in one of the less friendly districts of Piltover. It was an area in the far southern half of the city, one of the places where criminals fresh into Piltover tended to gather. Vi remembered it as one of the areas she used to frequent while stealing from other criminals; somehow they'd never figured out that reinforcing their vault doors to withstand triple the normal break force was a good idea.

The police techarriage dropped the pair off just outside the South-side boundary and drove away. He would be back in five hours to pick them up and take them back to headquarters, where the two would spend the rest of their evening doing any paperwork they may have acquired through a hard day's work. It all depended on how busy things got while on patrol.

"This place familiar to you?" Finnegan sounded like he was trying to be cordial as he unfolded the map of their patrol route, though the comment could be seen as a veiled insult of sorts. Vi would have to keep an eye on that, since Finnegan looked like he might be a little too clever for his own good.

"Yeah, I've bashed a few faces in around these parts before," Vi shrugged, as if the notion of smashing someone else's face in wasn't very important or exciting at all. "What's it to _you_?"

"Just wanted to know if you could point out any potential problem areas," Finnegan offered the map to her and adjusted his glasses. "This is a new route to me, so I don't know which places I should be more wary in."

Vi took the map in one massive glove and gave it a quick look. Yeah, she remembered some of these places. One or two were hot spots for fights and brawls, another notorious for the thieves that sold their stolen goods there... She leaned over so Finnegan could see the map as well and pointed out the problem areas. "Here, here, and here. First two have a lot of brawls, at least once a day, and the last one is a favorite for thieves."

Finnegan reviewed the locations that Vi had pointed out twice before he folded up the map and put it away. "Would you care to lead?"

"Of course," Vi smirked and took the lead. At least Finnegan now understood the pecking order to some degree. "Right this way, Finny."

The first sign of trouble showed itself as the pair neared a series of pubs. Even at this early hour there were those who wanted nothing more than to drink their time away, whether it was because of their troubles or because they simply no longer cared about anything else. Vi eyed the crowd, and spotted the beginnings of a brawl in a bar patron that was getting a tad too aggressive with his fellows. She sauntered over and allowed her heavy gauntlet to fall onto the man's shoulder. "There a problem here, buddy?" Vi gave him a frighteningly toothy grin, and false sweetness dripped from her voice.

Even through his drunken haze the would-be brawler was wise enough to know a whole heap of pain when he saw one. "N-no, ma'am," he stumbled away, suddenly turned off the thought of booze for the day. Vi snickered when he walked into a pole and hurried off to his home.

Vi turned back to Finnegan in time to spot him seizing the hand of a pickpocket who had decided to try his luck on him. Finnegan sighed. "I suppose we'll have to stop our patrol here until someone can pick him up," he held the struggling youth in an iron grip, a show of surprising strength for someone so thin. Vi had to admit she was somewhat impressed. _Somewhat._

A techarriage from the nearest station arrived within ten minutes to take the pickpocket away, and Vi and Finnegan continued on their route. The second pub yielded no problems, since word of their presence had apparently raced on ahead of them and troublemakers had decided to lay low for the moment. Vi was just beginning to feel bored from the lack of action when a dark figure emerged from an alley and followed them.

Those who called the area home started to hurry off the street; they knew trouble when they saw it brewing. Vi and Finnegan came to a halt as a group of ten thuggish men surrounded them, emerging from the surrounding alleys and the doorways of several shops. Vi was practically shaking from anticipation, she'd been aching for a decent fight for a few days now. Finnegan was unmoved by the interruption, and he eyed the group from behind his large glasses.

"Looks like you pigs are lost," one of the thugs took a step forward and hefted his shotgun. "The Sheriff's lost her edge, this is  _our_  turf now."

Before Vi could even think up a reply, Finnegan spoke up. "I wonder how much you'll cry when we take you in," the smirk that appeared on his face was one after Vi's own heart, and his eyes flicked between their current targets as he pushed his glasses further up his nose.

The lead thug roared with anger at the notion and took aim as Vi shot forward. With one blow she shattered his shotgun like a cheap toy. Oh yes, this was definitely something she missed. During the heated violence of conflict was when she felt most alive, when she could live purely in the moment and forget everything else, if only for a little while. She slammed one metal fist into the leader's gut as he gaped at his broken shotgun. He dropped like a stone and she whirled to find her next target. Vi charged the accelerators on her left fist and took aim as he hit the ground. Two more thugs were thrown into the air as she bowled through them to get to her newest target.

A glance at Finnegan revealed that he was holding his own quite easily against their enemies. He had been trained in street fighting and was successfully dodging and blocking each physical attack that came his way, then hitting each attacker with his handheld taser. One thug raised a gun, and Finnegan beat him to the draw with a mid-range taser that had been holstered on his belt.

In a matter of moments Vi had taken down five thugs to Finnegan's four, and the last was making a run for it. The man dashed back the way Vi and Finnegan had come, and the two cops gave chase. He whipped down an alley, where the sound of falling crates and barrels could be heard soon after.

Vi and Finnegan were slowed by the obstacles and for a moment it looked like their quarry might escape. She cast about for a plan—and settled on Finnegan. Spur of the moment, no time to think unless they wanted the criminal to get away.

"Wha—hey!" Finnegan squirmed as one of Vi's massive fists closed around his waist and lifted him off the ground.

With a precise flick of her arm, Vi sent Finnegan flying after the fleeing criminal.

Rather than flailing around like a worthless dweeb, Finnegan unholstered his mid-range taser as he drew level with their quarry. The taser hit the thug in the torso, and the man seized up and fell to the ground with a loud  _thump_. Finnegan himself continued past his target and hit the ground in a roll, then slid into a stack of wooden crates with a loud crash and disappeared from sight.

"Oh  _crap_ ," Vi didn't like the thought of having possibly broken her new partner on the first day and hurried after him. Caitlyn would be so angry if he was hurt... Maybe throwing him hadn't been the best plan after all.

The demolished stack of crates shifted as Finnegan got to his feet, and a box slid off his back with a loud clatter as he straightened. "Well," Finnegan coughed from the dust that had been kicked up by his collision. "Never done  _that_  before. It was fun, at least," the statement was accompanied by an amused half-smile and another cough as he dusted himself off. His coat and clothes were quite dirty now, but otherwise he had suffered no harm.

Vi breathed a mental sigh of relief and grinned at her temporary partner. "You gotta admit that was pretty awesome," she laughed at the memory of Finnegan flying through the air. It had just been too fun.

Finnegan climbed out of the debris pile and walked over to the unconscious criminal that he'd been hurled after just moments before. "I suppose that's a good word for it," he took the man's coat in one fist and started back toward the alley entrance. "We'd better call this in. They might be part of a bigger group, and by the way people cleared off when they saw them, those thugs must've been terrorizing them for a while."

"Yeah," Vi did her best to calm her amusement and followed Finnegan out of the alley, passing him just before he reached the entrance. She had to remind him of her higher rank, after all.

The band of thugs were still unconscious and collapsed where the pair had left them. A few of the locals passed the scene in a hurry now that the fighting was over, but otherwise the street was empty. Finnegan contacted the local station again and a police techarriage was soon clanking down the street to meet them. Vi smirked when she noted that the lead thug was tearing up a bit. Finnegan had been right in judging his character.

Now that Vi thought about it, she was grateful that it had been Finnegan next to her rather than Caitlyn. She wouldn't have had the courage to throw Caitlyn like that after what happened between them. Finnegan, however... He'd reacted at the right moment and hadn't berated her for throwing him in the first place. He'd even laughed about it, in his own way. Caitlyn probably wouldn't be out on patrol, either. She'd been shut up in her office doing paperwork between the infrequent big jobs when they were still partners, something that Vi found so horrifically boring that she'd thought she would die.

Finnegan watched the techarriage containing the thugs trundle away, his hands braced against his hips. "Hmph," he gave the criminals a disdainful jerk of his head and turned back to Vi. "Did you see the big one tearing up? Knew that would happen."

"Pfff yeah, just a big baby in the end," Vi grinned at the memory as the two continued their patrol. "He went down real easy, too."

"I saw that," Finnegan pushed his glasses up his nose yet again and fell into step with Vi. She noticed that he still allowed her to walk slightly in front of him, as if he were subconsciously submitting the mantle of leadership to her. In all honesty it was something she appreciated, and another perk she wouldn't have been able to enjoy had Finnegan been Caitlyn instead. Caitlyn was a born leader, and she and Vi would have been subconsciously fighting for the lead during the entire duration of their patrol.

Vi's grin faded to a confident smile as she led on. The pair passed two more streets and were three blocks from the next problem spot that Vi had pointed out when she stopped in front of an out-of-the-way alley. Finnegan walked past her less than a foot before he noticed she'd halted, then hurried back to her as if drawn there by an elastic band.

"What's wrong?" Finnegan peered down the street from over Vi's shoulder and waited patiently for her reply.

"Oh, I remembered that the next street is another place that has a lot of black market deals going on most of the time," Vi spoke from experience; she'd sold loot there in the past herself, though such instances had been infrequent due to her dislike of most of the shop owners and customers who used it. Just too dirty for her taste, even before she went legit. "This alley is where most of their goods are brought in."

Finnegan whipped out a small pocket book and jotted down the alleyway name and reason for significance. He would let headquarters know about it once they got back for the day. "I'm sure we can deviate from our route just a little bit to see what's going on," he tucked the pocket book away and looked up at Vi.

"Alrighty then," Vi gave a causal roll of her shoulders and started down the alley.

The alley was grubby and lined with two-story buildings that somehow managed to block out most of the sunlight despite their relatively small size, its cobblestones dusty and worn from use. Vi recalled that it tended to get horrendously muddy when the weather became damp and rainy, and the mud tended to be mixed with whatever trash the dealers here left behind. Shop owners usually kept their back doors and store rooms shut when not purchasing from their suppliers, and the first few buildings they passed were closed. The fifth building, however, was open and actively doing business with a group of men who were handling various pieces of hextech machinery.

Vi spotted the men before they noticed her, and she managed to saunter right up to one of the haulers without them noticing. "So where'd ya pick  _these_  up, buddy?" she lifted the crate of parts out of the man's arms with one hand before he had a chance to protest.

"Hey what're—who are you?" the man tried to snatch the crate away, but Vi easily held it out of his reach. "Give that back!"

"Just passers-by," Vi shoved the man aside one more time and popped the crate's lid open with one hand. "Ooh and what's this? Techarriage components?" she glanced back at Finnegan with a grin. "Didn't we hear about a robbery involving some of those a few weeks back?"

"Actually yes, I do remember that," Finnegan gave the group a cold smile and adjusted his glasses again. "I wonder if these might be the same," he managed to make it sound like an innocent musing, which worried the group of men all the more.

The other workers had stopped now, and a distressed mutter could be heard running through the group. "They're cops," one whispered. Some began to back off, while others put a hand on their concealed weapons.

"You can't prove anything," a man whose authoritative air declared him the leader of the group stepped forward and separated Vi from the worker she'd been talking to. "The newspapers said it was the work of a gang near the docks, so get lost and let us do our business."

"My gut feeling's proof enough," Vi tossed the box to one of the workers, who was knocked off his feet when he caught it. "So I could just  _beat_  the truth outta you if you prefer that," she slammed a fist into her open palm with a loud  _clang_  and grinned at him.

"We both know that's against your rules, cop," the man seemed completely unafraid despite having Vi and her massive gauntlets itching to give him a few good lumps. "So like I said before, get lost," he turned to glare at Finnegan, who was examining the parts in the crate that Vi had tossed earlier. "And you too!"

"Rules schmules," Vi's outward demeanor didn't change, but the man's protests were getting her rhiled. She wanted to lay into him more than anything right now. Still, the thought of disappointing Caitlyn again on her first day back didn't sit well with Vi and was enough to make her hesitate.

Finnegan rose and dusted his knees. "It is my understanding that you must have a permit to buy or sell these parts," he turned to the leader and tucked his hands into his trench coat pockets. "May we see it?"

"Of course no—ah?" the man stumbled over the unexpected question and lost confidence for the first time in their conversation.

Vi turned to him with a renewed grin. " _Yeah_ , where's the permit?" she pretended not to notice the workers who were edging around behind them and kept her eyes fixed on the man she was talking to. It was always more fun when they thought they'd gotten the drop on her. "You  _must_  have one, you bein' legit and all."

The man was obviously flustered now. "Well, ah. Sure, let me just go get it," he started toward the techarriage truck that the group had been unloading the parts from, and climbed into its open back when he reached it.

At that same moment the group sprung into action, unholstering weapons and kicking crates of merchandise away to keep them from getting damaged during the fight. It was eight to one, the odds should have been in their favor. The Sheriff had grown weak, it was only a matter of time before her accursed police force fell and surrendered its power to the criminal underbelly of Piltover once again.

" _Seriously_?" Vi laughed. The nearest worker came at Vi with a knife and she sent him flying into the man behind him with a single blow. Two down. She grabbed another attacker with one hand and glanced to her left to see how Finnegan was doing.

Apparently one or more of the men had managed to catch Finnegan off-guard. Two held him while a third drew back a fist armed with brass knuckles. It looked like Finnegan would soon receive a lump of his own—right on the bridge of his round glasses.

Well, there would be no standing for  _that_. Vi tossed the man she was holding over her shoulder and dashed to Finnegan's aid. The surprised scream he let loose as he flew would have made her chuckle if she were still paying attention to him. Her fingers closed around the third man's fist before he could swing, and he looked over his shoulder to see who had grabbed him.

Vi's hextech gauntlet and ruthless grin filled his field of view. "Awww, brass knuckles? That's just  _toocute_ ," she swung outward, catching a man who was charging her from behind in the torso with his captive comrade. The two of them flew into the closest wall as Vi let go and turned on those who still held Finnegan.

One was about to bring his knife to Finnegan's throat when Vi's fists whipped forward, one on either side of her partner's head, and knocked both men flying down the alley. The strike was close enough for Finnegan to feel the wind coming off Vi's fists, and violent enough to make the crooks release him out of pure shock. "Nawp, can't have that," she withdrew her fists and elbowed yet another attacker in the face as he tried to sneak up on her. "Come  _on_ , you didn't learn from the last guy who tried that?" Vi picked him up and spotted the last man, who was in the process of escaping toward the shop.

The man made it only a few feet before his body seized up and collapsed into a twitching heap on the cobblestones. "Had to redeem myself at least a little," Finnegan quipped. He holstered his taser and walked quietly to the back of the truck, where the leader was probably still hiding. He stopped short of the open end and waited for Vi to approach.

Vi didn't need to be told the reason for Finnegan's caution; the man inside might have a gun on him, and the cover of the truck gave him an advantage. She would have to use her deflectors again, but this time she would be more careful about how she protected her own with them. Without a word she put a hand on Finnegan's shoulder and gestured for him to get behind her, which he did immediately and without question. She then charged her left gauntlet and held it between herself and the open truck as she walked behind it.

A revolver shot bounced off of Vi's glowing gauntlet and embedded itself in the inside of the vehicle's storage cubicle. Five more followed before the gun's owner had to stop to reload, and even he knew what was about to happen as he scrambled to load the revolver again. He even screwed his eyes shut just before Vi's fist hit him in the face.

"Was hopin' you guys would give us a better fight," Vi grabbed the man she'd just knocked out and tossed him into the alley. "It was fun anyway." She jumped to the ground and turned to Finnegan, who was feeling the back of his head as he climbed down himself. "You alright?"

"One of them got me on the back of the head," Finnegan's fingers brushed the injury and he winced. "I'm feeling alright now, though."

"Sure," Vi could see that he was walking steadily enough, but she would keep an eye on him regardless.

The shopkeeper insisted that he didn't know that the techarriage parts were stolen when Vi and Finnegan confronted him over it. He couldn't give them a permit for buying the parts either so he would be in for a hefty fine, but no jail time since he hadn't purchased anything yet. Another police techarriage arrived within ten minutes to pick up their haul, and a second to confiscate the techarriage parts that Vi and Finnegan had seized from the group. There was even an ice pack ready for Finnigan when they arrived, which Vi had insisted that he request in the interest of not having her new partner suddenly pass out on her while on patrol.

Their patrol route came to an end behind schedule, and Vi found herself wishing the crooks hadn't gotten wind of their presence and laid low until evening. It had been a highly successful day in the end. Now for the dreaded paperwork, which there would be a heap of since they'd seen a lot of action on their first patrol. The pair stopped at an Ionian cuisine restaurant on the way back to headquarters and took their dinner to their shared office, where they would work on their paperwork until eight in the evening.

Paperwork was as boring and irritating as ever, though it came at the end of a fun and productive day rather than the heaps and heaps that Caitlyn always had to deal with. The Sheriff had never asked Vi to do it for fear of the bruiser messing up some vitally important form or case file. That meant Vi had been left to amuse herself in the office since she had been stuck with Caitlyn as her partner and wasn't allowed to take cases on her own. It was these long periods of tedious inactivity that caused her to go more wild than usual when they actually  _did_  take cases, in fact. There was just too much pent-up energy for her to act any other way.

At least this stuff was  _her_ paperwork, dull as it was. It even brought back a few memories of the day she had. Vi set a completed form aside and drummed her fingers on the desk. Her hand was starting to hurt from all this extra writing. She glanced up at Finnegan to see how he was doing.

Finnegan already had a large stack of paperwork piled in the 'finished' basket on his desk, and he reached up to touch his head injury just as Vi looked at him. She probably should've made him get another ice pack once the first had thawed, but she was quite impressed that he'd been able to keep quiet about the bothersome injury. It seemed that Finnegan had a much higher tolerance for pain than she'd expected. The thought made her wonder just how careful Caitlyn had been in selecting a temporary partner for her. Such resilience was a pretty important requirement when working with Vi, given her brash and impulsive attitude and reckless fighting style.

"Hey," Finnegan looked up at Vi immediately after she spoke. She pointed at his head, "Make sure you ice that again when you get home."

"Oh, right," Finnegan seemed a bit embarrassed over her noticing his discomfort and promptly buried himself in his paperwork again.

By seven in the evening Finnegan had finished his paperwork, whereas Vi still had some ways to go. He pushed his chair out from the table and stretched his neck and shoulders as he got to his feet, working out the kinks after the hours spent slaving over paperwork. Finnegan pushed his chair back under the table and strode over to Vi's desk to check her progress. "Need some help?" he leaned over Vi's desk to get a look at the form she was working on.

"Nah, I can do it," Vi tapped her pen on the desk without looking up at him. "You can get me a drink if you wanna help."

Finnegan didn't reply and instead walked over to the nearest bookshelf, where he removed a book that Vi had never bothered to look at before. He then set the book on her desk and took his leave.

Vi opened the book once she was sure Finnegan was gone and thumbed through its table of contents. The table of contents revealed that the book would help her with the information that she had been trying to write down from memory. She finished several forms in the time it took Finnegan to return with her drink, a cup of coffee to keep her sharp until the paperwork was done.

"Thanks, Finny," Vi accepted the drink and took a sip. The coffee was strong and dark, without any milk or sugar added to change the flavor. She was about to consider asking Finnigan if he'd gotten any sugar when he set a napkin with a few sugar cubes on her desk, followed by a small cup full of cream and a spoon to stir the coffee with. Vi dropped three sugar cubes into her coffee and stirred it before taking another sip. Much better.

Despite the fact that he'd already helped Vi a great deal with her work, Finnegan sat back down at his desk and waited for her to finish. It was nice of him, though Vi felt a little annoyed that he thought she needed to be babysat like this.

At ten minutes to eight Vi set the last piece of paperwork in her 'finished' basket and stretched her arms. The paperwork had been boring, but all in all it had been a satisfying day for her. She got to her feet and Finnegan rose from his own chair as well.

"Well, I'm outta here," Vi stretched again and picked up her power pack and gloves. "See you tomorrow, Finny."

Finnegan nodded and followed Vi out of the office. The two split up at the main entrance, which was just being inundated with the officers of the night watch. Twenty minutes later Vi was sitting comfortably on her own couch and going over the day from start to finish. She hadn't gotten the lecture she thought Caitlyn would lay into her with, and that was a relief. Vi had definitely deserved it... With that being the case, she wondered what Caitlyn might be playing at by not even bringing the issue up.

An entertaining day indeed, and Vi hoped tomorrow would be just as fun. She leaned forward and lifted Holly's journal from its place on her coffee table. Maybe she could work on the fire flowers this weekend, and visit Holly too. Vi wasn't much for explosives and the like herself, but she could always learn. She could do that much at least.

Little over a week had passed, and things were looking up.


	4. Chapter 4

"Move it, Finny!" Vi gave her partner a brief call over the shoulder as they continued their pursuit of a mugger. The chase had been an abnormally long one, having run over from their patrol route in South-side and into a busy shopping district. Vi was still going strong, but the long run was beginning to weigh on Finnegan and he lagged behind.

"'m sorry," Finnegan gasped and tried to pick up the pace, with little success. "Don't have as much endurance as you!"

Vi gave him another glance, then grinned as an idea popped into her head. Without missing a stride she scooped Finnegan up in one hand and kept running. "Everybody  _ **MOVE**_!" she called ahead to the shoppers and pointed at her target.

The shoppers immediately responded to Vi's booming command, and some dashed into shops while others pressed themselves against the wall to keep out of her way. Those lucky enough to be on the other side of the street and therefore out of harm's way started following Vi out of pure curiosity.

Soon a path was cleared for them, and Vi began to charge her free gauntlet. "Get him with yer taser!"

Finnegan unholstered his mid range taser just as a hanging sign hit him in the forehead with a loud  _thonk_  when Vi passed beneath it. "Gahk!" Finnegan rubbed his forehead and glared back at the offending object, only to have another sign hit him in the back of the head when he did so. "Why are there so many signs?" Finnegan grumbled and ducked his head to avoid being brained by more signs as he took aim. "He's out of range."

"Not for long!" with the sidewalk clear, Vi was able to let loose. She activated the accelerators on her free fist and shot off toward the fleeing criminal like a rocket, Finnegan still clutched tightly in one hand.

Vi let out a wild laugh as the thief glanced over his shoulder to see what all the commotion was about. His eyes widened in terror at the sight of Vi speeding toward him, and he picked up the pace as a small scream escaped his lips.

"Any time now, Finny!" Vi laughed harder when she saw that the thief had spotted them and tried to keep their progress as smooth as possible so Finnegan could line up his shot.

"Got hi—" Finnegan was a hair's breadth from pulling the trigger when something darted out of a shop and into their path.

A kid. Finnegan's surprise at seeing a child suddenly in their way messed up his shot, and he stopped himself before he could pull the trigger.

"Augh kid, no!" Vi had to think quickly to avoid the boy, who was still oblivious to the danger he was currently in. He looked up just as Vi was about to run over him and crouched down in a defensive ball. Their momentum was too powerful to stop, so Vi was forced to do the next best thing—alter their trajectory. Her foot shot out ahead, and she kicked herself off the ground just before she could reach the boy.

"Sorry Finny, I'm gonna have ta throw you again!" Vi's kick sent them soaring upward, and at the zenith of their jump she tossed Finnegan after the fleeing criminal as she had on the first day of their partnership. The act of throwing Finnegan knocked Vi completely off-balance, and she hit the ground gloves-first in a cacophony of clanging and grinding metal.

Finnegan didn't need his taser this time. Vi had thrown him at such speed that he would overtake and slam into the fleeing purp in mere moments. He braced himself for impact just before he hit the thief's back and sent the man flying forward.

The landing was hard, but Finnegan was lucky enough to land on top. Not so much for the thief, who was dazed from the blow and now lay groaning on the cobblestone sidewalk. Finnegan got to his feet and quickly cuffed the man before hurrying back to Vi, who was just getting to her feet after the rough landing.

"Leave it to a kid to get in the way at just the wrong moment," Vi braced her hands against her lower back and stretched to get the kinks out. Despite herself, she felt a painful twinge at the back of her mind for saying such a thing. It reminded her of Holly. "How'd you get through? Anything hurt bad?" she glanced at Finnegan and cracked her neck to loosen it up.

"I got off better than our purp," Finnegan jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the thief, who had the good sense to stay down now that Vi was in the close vicinity. "You?"

Vi touched rapidly-swelling lump on the right side of her head and scowled. "Hit my head on the back of a gauntlet," she winced when she accidentally pressed it too hard and let her hand fall to her side.

"Wow!" the pair turned as the boy Vi had lept over just moments before approached them, his eyes shining with admiration. "That was awesome, Miss police officer!"

The praise immediately snapped Vi out of her grumbling and she turned to the boy with a big smile. "I know, right?" she flexed without realizing it. "You should see when I get  _real_ rough, those crooks don't stand a chance!"

A round of applause filled the street as shoppers emerged from the stores and gathered around the pair. Vi was promptly surrounded and showered with various compliments on traits from her bravery to her gloves. Of course, they wouldn't know it was Vi who had caused the fiasco just three weeks ago. That information had remained private, and Caitlyn had somehow been able to keep her officers from spreading word of it. Part of Vi wished she could forget about what had happened, but another chimed in to remind her that doing such would be disrespectful to Holly, and she just couldn't stand for that.

"Alright people, clear the way so we can call this in," Vi puffed out her chest and motioned for the crowd to move aside as Finnegan dragged the thief up to her. She leaned down so her nose was within a few inches of the purp's and grinned. "So, are ya gonna try running again?"

The mugger made eye contact with Vi for a few seconds, then looked away. "No," he sulked as Vi straightened.

"Aw come on, give us a better face than that," Vi gave a smile of fake innocence and held her hands in a dainty fashion. "It's  _so_  unbecoming!"

Much to Vi's delight, the remark got a burst of laughter out of the crowd and they swarmed her again as Finnegan called in the successful arrest.

"Those gauntlets are very impressive, young lady. Did you make them yourself?"

"You must be  _really_  strong to use them so easily!"

"Would you and your partner like to have a snack at my bakery? It's on the house."

"Oh, your head's hurt! Could I bring you an ice pack?"

Vi kicked her foot against the cobbles in a fit of bashfulness. "We gotta go back on patrol soon, so we can't stay long. An ice pack would be nice, though."

"Actually," Finnegan turned off his handheld and slipped it back into his pocket. "We went over our patrol time again, so the next watch can take over for us," he stood by the criminal so Vi could freely interact with her admirers.

Within five minutes the pair were seated in a nearby bakery and the mugger was on his way to the nearest police station. Vi held an ice pack to her head as she lifted a cup of sugared coffee to her lips. Her gloves and power pack rested against the nearest table leg, close enough to keep an eye on yet in the open so the other bakery patrons could admire it. "So Finny," she set the cup down on the table and looked up at Finnegan, who sat across from her. "I never got to ask what you did to get stuck with me."

"Hmm?" Finnegan seemed genuinely surprised by the statement, as if he didn't consider working with Vi to be punishment at all. "How do you mean?" he lowered his own cup of coffee, which he'd been about to take a sip from himself.

"Well, I toss you around all the time, we constantly get into scraps together, I think you're smart enough for a higher position. How come Caitlyn paired you with me instead of someone else?"

Finnegan set the cup down on the table as well and laced his fingers. "I don't do well in positions of authority," he seemed embarrassed to admit it, since such an attitude could be looked on as weakness. "Also, I don't have a mind for hextech in the slightest," he took one of his tasers in his hands and stared down at it for a moment. "Sure, I can use a taser easy enough, but I can't fix it if it breaks or malfunctions," Finnegan put the device away again and looked up at Vi. "As you know, in a place like Piltover you need scientific  _and_ magical smarts on top of everything else if you want to move up in rank," he gave her an ironic smile and closed his eyes in acceptance of his fate. "All that aside, I don't consider it unfortunate to have you as a partner, even if it's only for these two weeks."

That was right, Vi had nearly forgotten that tomorrow would be the end of their partnership. The thought darkened her mood instantly—it would be back to either tip toeing around Caitlyn and smothering herself or constantly getting reprimanded by the Sheriff for disobeying orders. Despite herself, Vi let out an annoyed sigh and frowned.

"Something wrong?" the sudden change in mood had not gone unnoticed by Finnegan, who seemed worried that he may have said something wrong.

"Nah, just not looking forward to working with Caitlyn again, I guess," Vi leaned on one elbow and stared at the wall opposite her, at a spot just over Finnegan's head.

Finnegan didn't reply and took a sip of his coffee as he thought about what Vi had said, the glare of the setting sun reflecting off his glasses and obscuring his eyes from her view. A minute later he looked up, "So how did you and the Sheriff meet? I've heard rumors but nothing definite."

Vi leaned back and drummed her fingers on the table.  _Guess it wouldn't hurt to tell him..._  She glanced around, and noticed that many of the bakery patrons had gotten quiet and were sitting abnormally still. They were listening in, they wanted to know more about this flashy new cop who had dashed into their district. Vi contemplated it for a few more moments. It wasn't like it was supposed to be a secret or anything... Though it  _was_ pretty embarrassing for her to tell again.

"Well, where should I start...?

_"Guess the beginning of that day is as good a place as any."_

Vi packed her loot bags into a few belt pouches and looked around her small, somewhat messy apartment. It was nice for its size, she could've had better... If she didn't spend so much on improving her gauntlets. Improving her gauntlets and putting the hurt on her fellow criminals, such was the summation of Vi's life at this point. She lived for nothing else.

And today she would be skunking yet another gang of dirty criminals by stealing everything they had in their precious vault. Information on the hideout had already been beaten out of one of the crime boss's lackeys, who'd been promptly dropped off at the nearest police station once she'd finished. With everything in order for the operation, Vi slipped her gauntlets on and left the apartment.

_"It was pretty easy to get to the spot where I was gonna break in. Those crime boss guys never learned, thought they were invincible just cause most other crooks feared them."_

The sewer tunnel that ran beneath the complex had only a slight smell. It had been dried up for a few years now as the sewer network beneath Piltover had been improved, and this tunnel was no longer needed. Vi held her lantern a bit higher and measured the steps from the tunnel entrance to the underside of the compound.

Forty steps. This was the place. The tunnel's ceiling was around five feet here and Vi had to stoop to fit, but it would serve her needs just fine. Vi removed a large grey tarp that she'd tacked to the ceiling earlier, revealing a large hole that stretched to a shadowy dead end about four feet above her head. She'd been working on this for a few days, it was supposed to eventually come out in a little-used store room that she would get to the vault from once she was in. As far as she knew, no one else had discovered it yet.

Vi pulled herself up using grooves she'd cut into the rock while making the hole. Once in position, she hung to the side of the hole and slammed one gauntlet into the ceiling above. The rock gave way and shot upward rather than falling back into the tunnel; she'd made it into the store room.

_"Didn't run into anyone on the way to the vault. I was a little disappointed that I wouldn't be able to deck anyone with my latest upgrades, but I wouldn't turn down good luck when I found it."_

The room that led to the vault was the boss's own office, but the man was absent. A distant commotion could be heard from where Vi was now, more good luck if it was a decent enough distraction. Vi approached a large bookshelf that stood behind the boss's desk and grasped either side of it with her gauntlets. With a single heave she sent it crashing to the side, the secret door it created torn clean off its hinges to reveal the vault's entrance.

Vi laid one hand flat against the vault's door and knocked on its metal surface with the other. The tone would tell her the approximate thickness and strength of the metal so she could pull her punch a bit if she needed to. It wouldn't do to destroy her loot, after all.

Three well-placed blows leveled the vault door to reveal the treasures she was after. There was a good collection of gemstones, finely-wrought jewelry, and even a few gold bars sparkled on their respective shelves as Vi entered the vault. Two half-foot stacks of paper money took up space on the floor, and Vi grinned as she opened one of her sacks and began loading it up.

_"It was a pretty good haul for such an easy job. With everything loaded up I was ready to get the hell outta there."_

The three sacks were a satisfying weight on Vi's shoulders as she made her way back to the store room and its tunnel. Whatever the commotion was that had been taking place near the front had died down by now, and the halls were completely empty. Really none of Vi's concern, since it only made her job easier. She picked up the darkened lantern and turned it back on, then clipped it to her belt to keep it out of the way.

Vi lowered herself into the tunnel and dropped the last few feet to the floor. Her landing was immediately followed by the clank of a closing trap and the loud roar of pain that Vi let loose as it snapped shut on her lower leg. The sudden pain made her drop the bags of loot with a clatter, and she bent down to get a better look at the steel trap now fastened around her leg. Despite the incredible strength of her gloves, the trap didn't budge when she tried to pry it open, and in fact it may have even gotten a little tighter when she let it go. Vi was fiddling uselessly with the mechanism, her massive metal fingers more a hindrance than a help, when the sound of boots walking in an even, confident stride echoed down the tunnel.

"I was wondering when you'd show," a smooth voice with the distinct accent of Piltover's upper class echoed through the tunnel as the Sheriff stepped into the wildly-swinging light of Vi's lantern. "Judging by your ridiculously large hextech gauntlets and sacks of loot, you must be that thief who only steals from criminals," she stopped five feet in front of Vi, confident and calm despite being within range of the criminal's fists. "Your name is Violet, isn't it?" though she posed it as a question it was clear that Caitlyn already knew the answer.

"You won't call me that if you know what's good for you," Vi snarled, her fingers flexing one after another. She hated being called by her full name, and those who tossed it around so lightly as this Sheriff was usually received more than their fair share of pain.

Caitlyn's eyes flicked down to Vi's gauntlets, then back up to her face. "I wouldn't try launching yourself if I were you. The trap that has your leg is bolted to the ground, it would probably skin your calf if you did," Caitlyn spoke as if Vi skinning herself was of little concern, even if it meant catching a hextech gauntlet in the face.

"I'll take that risk if it means wiping that smirk off your face," Vi took what should have been a threatening step forward and was greeted by the loud clank of a second trap closing around her free leg. She reeled back in renewed pain and lost her balance, pitching herself backward to land in the most non-painful way possible, on her rump. The two traps combined hurt like hell, but at least Caitlyn had been merciful enough to position them so they wouldn't hit her full in the shin.

"Are you finished?" Caitlyn was thrown into heavy shadow when Vi's legs and body blocked the lanternlight, and she held her rifle in one hand and put the other on her hip as she stared impassively down at her prisoner. "I still have a few things to say."

Vi grit her teeth and glared up at Caitlyn. " _Fine_. What do you want? To gloat?" her voice was tight with pain, despite trying to keep herself under control.

Caitlyn shook her head. "No. I've been watching you or a while, Violet. I've noticed that while you are indeed a thief, you  _do_  have a habit of helping those around you and foiling other criminals when they try to take advantage of the city's civilians," a faint smile lit Caitlyn's face as she spoke, which instead of making her seem more friendly only succeeded in making her look more threatening.

"You've been watching that too?" Vi grumbled and turned her eyes from Caitlyn's. She usually didn't make a big deal of helping people out, it was just what came naturally now.

"Yes. And due to such tendencies, I am willing to offer you a deal," Caitlyn shifted and kicked one boot against the concrete floor to relieve a slight cramp. "I  _could_  simply throw you in prison and forget about it, but I  _am_  a believer in redemption. I would like to give you a chance to shape up and fly right: if you join my police force as an officer and help me keep this city safe,  _and_  surrender all stolen items you still possess, I will clear your record and allow you to remain free."

Vi blinked. This had to be some sort of cruel joke on the Sheriff's part. She'd heard Caitlyn was dangerous, brutal and keenly intelligent, so mercy had been the last thing she expected from the likes of her. It was so strange that it got a full-throated laugh out of Vi as she sat on the cold concrete floor with a steel trap fastened to each leg. "So you'll give me a job that lets me pummel any scum I want, without being chased by the police? Are you serious?" Vi was laughing so hard now that she fell over backwards with a muffled thud. She looked up again once she had herself under control. "You're joking, right?"

"No joke. I am being quite sincere."

The statement sobered Vi up immediately, and she sat up. "Well it would be nice, but..." the glare came back, and she rattled the chains that bolted the two traps to the floor. " _Why the hell did you have to get me with these things in the first damn place?!_ "

Caitlyn's faint smile widened to one of genuine mirth, "Because you're very much the type to punch first and ask questions never."

Vi grunted with annoyance, more because Caitlyn was exactly right than anything else. "Well can ya take 'em off, then?" she grumbled, crossing her massive fists over her chest.

"If you promise you won't try to hit me when you're out," Caitlyn's voice carried that light, careless tone again as she shrugged. Vi was sure it was an act to tell her she wasn't a threat, and she was ashamed to admit that it was working. Even if she'd been at full capacity Vi wasn't sure she would be able to take Caitlyn in a fight; she wasn't stupid enough to think that sniping and setting traps was all the Sheriff was good at, and what she could do in League matches  _definitely_  wasn't the full summation of her abilities.

"Yeah, I promise," Vi sighed and rested her gauntlets on her knees.

Caitlyn removed a small, sturdy key from one of her belt pouches and knelt by the nearest trap. Vi watched as Caitlyn inserted the key into the trap's mechanism and turned it to the right. The trap lost tension and fell to the ground instantly, and Vi couldn't help but appreciate how clever the concept was. It saved Caitlyn from wasting time getting the trap open if she was in a hurry.

Vi spoke up as Caitlyn moved to the second trap, "So who made these?"

"My mother," Caitlyn smiled again, but this time it was an expression of gratitude rather than mirth. "She's an inventor, she made all my gear, in fact."

"Oh," Vi felt a sharp pang of jealousy when she heard this. To have a mother at all, and one who supported her so much at that. The second trap fell away, and Vi was grateful for the decreased pain for the time being, though the wounds still hurt.

"Here," Caitlyn retrieved a potion from another belt pouch and offered it to Vi. "So I don't have to carry you," she moved to the loot bags once Vi had accepted the potion and hefted them easily onto her own back. "It's a quick fix, so you'll have to see a doctor once we're out just to make sure." With that, Caitlyn turned on her heel and strode down the tunnel.

Vi gulped the potion and got slowly to her feet as her legs partially healed themselves. She followed Caitlyn at a slower pace due to pain, but she had no desire to try to run away. Her life felt shallow now that she thought about it, endlessly stealing and improving and stealing again for more improvements. Maybe this could be a chance at something more...

 _"The other officers were pretty surprised when they saw me walking out with Caitlyn, but they didn't say anything. She said she'd been planning the whole thing for a while, but I think they didn't believe it would work. Shows how much_ they  _know."_

"So after that I got assigned as Caitlyn's partner and I've been legit ever since," Vi finished. She lifted her coffee cup to take a sip and found that it had gone cold. The ice pack had thawed as well and now rested on the table where she'd placed it during the story.

"Hah, so that's how it went," Finnegan leaned on the table with one elbow and gave Vi a relieved smile. "I heard the two of you met just after you finished strangling some mugger who was after an old lady."

Vi took a few moments to process what Finnegan had said, then burst out laughing. "Oh,  _that_. Actually I  _was_ doing that the first time Caitlyn saw me, but it wasn't as simple as you'd think," She leaned back in her seat and grinned at the memory. "The old lady that guy mugged was about ready to beat him to death when I stepped in and separated them. I swear she had bricks in her purse. Anyway, I didn't find out she saw that until  _way_ after the fact."

A ripple of whispers filled the room before Finnegan could think of a proper reply:

" _Oh wow, she used to be a criminal? I thought she was just the eccentric inventor type."_

" _There's no reason she can't be that too. Real nice of the Sheriff to do that, gives you hope for the future an' all that."_

" _So does that mean she was self-taught? That's a genius-level IQ if I ever saw one, those academics will have a run for their money if she ever visits the university."_

Vi couldn't help but blush from the praise that came her way; she hadn't expected to be accepted so readily. But thinking back on their first meeting, Vi realized that Caitlyn  _had_ looked... Worn out. She'd noticed shadows under the Sheriff's eyes that shouldn't have been there, and they'd deepened in the weeks that followed as Caitlyn tried to reign Vi in. If Caitlyn could be that forceful and annoying when she was tired, Vi didn't want to even attempt imagining what she was going to be like when they paired up again tomorrow...

"You alright?" Finnegan had noticed the change in Vi's expression again, and silently she wished she was better at keeping her inner feelings from showing on her face. He retrieved his watch from a breast pocket and checked the time. "Ten minutes to six, we should get going so we can get the paperwork done before nightwatch reports in."

"Yeah, good point," Vi got to her feet and picked up her power pack and gloves. To slip them on and activate the gauntlets took only a few seconds, as long practice allowed her to do so with ease and speed. She wasn't looking forward to tomorrow, but there was nothing to be done.

Vi would deal with tomorrow when it came.


	5. Chapter 5

Caitlyn was again seated behind her desk when Vi entered the Sheriff's office, several files and other papers stacked neatly before her. The Sheriff's posture and the set of her shoulders bespoke a large degree of quiet confidence, especially now that she was rested and in peak condition once again. "Good morning, Vi," Caitlyn's face was relaxed and blank as Vi entered her office to stand before her desk.

"Morning," Vi shifted from one foot to the other and eyed the files. They were unlabled, but apparently important enough for Caitlyn to peruse just before their meeting. "So what happens now?"

"For a start we will review your work in the past two weeks," Caitlyn set a hand on the stack of files and dragged it toward her. "I've already studied it myself, and I must say I am pleased by the results. You really  _are_  serious about doing better and treating your duties as a proper job rather than a violent whim."

"Wait..." Vi started forward and came to a halt just inches from Caitlyn's desk. "Where'd those come from?"

"Finnegan, of course," Caitlyn got to her feet, the file still in hand. "The reports were necessary for determining your eligibility for remaining part of my police force."

Vi's brows knit together upon hearing that Finnegan had been reporting their activities to Caitlyn, especially since no one had told her about it.

"Oh don't make such a fuss," Caitlyn rolled her eyes, dropping her professional tone for just a moment to show her annoyance. "The majority of what Finnegan had to say was very good, though I am a little concerned that you tend to toss him about like a toy on occasion," she opened the file and read one of its pages. "You do a thorough job in keeping the criminals under control while on patrol, you go out of your way to help civilians in need when you see them and the stats on the areas you patrol state that crime rates have gone down considerably during the time frame of eleven to five, your patrol time," the file was closed with a snap as Caitlyn finished and tucked under one arm. "You've done an excellent job, as I expected."

"So..." Vi scuffed a boot heel against the floor and swung her gauntlet-clad arms. "Does that mean I get to keep Finnegan?"

"Yes and no," Caitlyn tossed the file back onto her desk, where it landed neatly on the top of its stack. "There is still the issue of your position..." she strode around to the back side of her desk again and removed something from one of its side drawers. "You were not given a proper rank when first brought into service, partly because I was unsure about where I would permanently place you," the other unspoken reason reminded itself to Vi as Caitlyn paused; the Sheriff had been off her game around that time as well, and had likely lacked the time to assign a proper rank. "But now that I've had the time to come up with a solution..." the object she now offered to Vi was a dark leather flip wallet that was roughly the size of the Sheriff's hand, and easily large enough for Vi to manipulate with the mechanical fingers of her gloves.

Vi slowly extended her hand to receive the wallet, which Caitlyn placed in the palm of her gauntlet. In a motion most would consider too dextrous for such a large piece of machinery, Vi flicked the wallet up into her fingers and flipped it open in one quick movement. A silver five-point star overset by the icon of Piltover—a clockwork gear—glinted at her from within the wallet, engraved with bold letters stating her new first and secondary ranks:  **Chief Enforcer, Deputy Sheriff**.

For a moment, Vi could only stare at her new badge. After all that, Caitlyn really had so much faith in her that she was willing to give her a second chance  _and_  the second highest position in the police force. She looked up at Caitlyn after a full minute had passed, "You're serious? What's the catch?" Vi's eyes found their way back down to the silver badge, and she read the top rank again. "Chief Enforcer? Is that an actual rank?"

"It is now," Caitlyn seemed rather pleased with herself, as evidenced by the real and genuine smile that now lit up her face. "The Enforcers Division is a new section within the police force that will act as a heavy duty strike force as well as the patrol officers in high-crime areas of the city, and  _you_  are going to be its leader."

"Wait, what?" Vi did a double take from Caitlyn to the badge and back again. "You're putting me in—" she took a step back from sheer shock at the realization. "But I don't even know how!"

"You're a natural leader, and if you have questions just come ask me," Caitlyn waved away Vi's concerns as if there were no possible way the bruiser could screw this up.

Vi's shoulders slumped, as if the weight of her new responsibilities had already settled upon them. The task ahead was daunting, sure enough, but even now Vi began to get excited over the challenge. "It's a pretty tall order," she flicked the badge wallet again, and this time it flipped closed and landed neatly in the palm of her glove. "You sure about this?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have had the badge made if I weren't," Caitlyn could see that Vi was warming up to the idea now. Good, all was going according to plan so far. "The rank you now hold will have a higher pay grade than the one you had before due to the increased workload of course, and it gives you access to civic projects that the government considers. You might be able to get traction for those ideas you had to help at-risk children in Piltover."

To Caitlyn's surprise, Vi did a small jig of happiness and swept her into a tight hug of gratitude. "Aww thanks, cupcake!" Vi leaned back and lifted Caitlyn off the ground. "You're the best!"

"Cup... Cake?" Caitlyn's eyebrows slanted downward in a displeased frown; the new nickname obviously didn't sit well with her. She shifted her arms and slid downward in Vi's hold.

It happened too quickly for Vi to fully register what took place. Caitlyn was held tightly in her arms one moment, then the next, Vi was face down on the ground with Caitlyn's boots pinning each of her gauntlets to the floor. A stack of books that had been set close to the edge of Caitlyn's desk fell onto the back of Vi's head with a dull  _thunk_  as she tried to grasp what in the hell had just happened. "Ow," the statement was more a reflex to being hit with the books than anything else. Vi was still too shocked to really say anything else.

"Yes, you are the head of your own division now, Vi, but don't think you've escaped having to work with me just yet."

The pressure of Caitlyn's boots eased off Vi's gauntlets, and she pushed herself up to find that the Sheriff was already standing behind her desk again. "You're  _the_  Enforcer of Piltover now, but that badge also names you as the Deputy Sheriff, meaning that we will still be taking cases together," she held up a hand for silence even as a grumble rose in Vi's throat. "I know we have our differences, but I would like to offer a compromise when it comes to working together."

"I'm listening," Vi crossed her gauntlets over her chest and leaned shakily against the nearest bookshelf. The fact that Caitlyn was even capable of throwing her like that was just as surprising as the fact that it happened.

Caitlyn paused, and took a few moments to review what she was about to say. "You must remember that I do not give orders merely to hear the sound of my own voice. I give them because they present the greatest chance for success. But, I will not deny that your intuition and bravery are two of your strongest traits, and they should not be wasted in any situation. If you are about to make a change to my plans based on some gut instinct or unexpected development,  _I need you to tell me first_. If I have the time I will rework the plan, but if not your warning will at least allow me to properly improvise," she raised her eyebrows and looked Vi in the eye. "Sound reasonable?"

Vi pretended to think it over for a moment, though she already knew the answer. "Yeah, it sounds good. But which cases?"

"The cases that require the skill set belonging to you and to your division. Of course, the frequency will depend on how many large threats enter the city, and you know as well as I that there may be plenty brewing beneath the surface where we might not find them in time."

"So what'll I do between those?" Vi found that she was dreading what Caitlyn might say next. She wouldn't be able to stand getting buried in paperwork and administrative duties for days on end the way Caitlyn had been.

"You may patrol the streets with Finnegan as you please, as long as you leave enough time to manage your division. The secretaries I have assigned should take care of a lot of the paperwork that you don't need to deal with directly."

" _YES!_ " Vi jumped away from the bookshelf and pumped her fist, which bumped the hanging ceiling lamp just above her head and knocked it to the floor with a loud crash.

Caitlyn glared down at the lamp, obviously not appreciative when it came to Vi's aptitude for breaking things in her office. "That's coming out of your next paycheck."

"I know," Vi was too happy to care about a slight pay reduction at the moment. It all seemed too good to be true, and for a moment Vi considered the possibility that she might be dreaming.

Caitlyn sighed. "Anyway, I need you to select the officers who will serve in your division," she swept up the review files and made her way to the door. "You'll find the files you need in the Archives, follow me."

The trip down to the Archives seemed to last only a brief moment for Vi as the pair made their way through the corridors and halls of Headquarters. Soon they stood at the door of the Archives and were welcomed inside by the keeper—on the express grounds that Vi not ruin anything, a wish that she pledged to uphold with the utmost care. Caitlyn led Vi to the files containing the records and combat test scores of every officer in the force before leaving to attend to her own business in the Archives.

Now alone and seated with the monumental task of populating her division with officers from among the hundreds who worked under Caitlyn, Vi removed her gauntlets, set them against the nearest desk and got to work. She started by selecting the officers who had the highest scores in strength, instinct, and aptitude for hextech machinery. By two in the afternoon, she had a respectable pile of files on her desk but was still far from being done with her task; there were still hundreds of files to comb through even after the many she'd already reviewed.

It was around this time that Vi became hungry again. She got up with a long stretch and slipped her gloves back on as she left the Archives. The sandwich tasted even better than usual as Vi wolfed it down, her thoughts centered on how she would organize her division and ensure that they remained in peak condition for their work. Mandatory sparring a few hours before patrol and missions might do the trick...

* * *

Vi strutted along the line of enforcers, her eyes running over their armor and personal hextech items in a quick inspection. Yes, they were ready for a serious mission now. Even Caitlyn had complimented her on how well she'd pulled the Enforcers Division together, though she had to ask the Sheriff for a little help more than a few times.

"Alright, my little enforcelings," Vi grinned at the collective nickname she had given her division officers, who chuckled and nudged each other in the line. Some were brash like Vi, others more cautious, but most of them had a decent sense of humor and excellent capacity for brawling and getting into the thick of a fight to disperse the enemy. She'd been working with these men and women for about a week now, preparing them for the rough patrol routes in the seedier parts of the city and readying them for an incident such as this. Caitlyn had called upon Vi and her unit for a superior threat, and now it was their time to shine.

"Now this would be the part where I say something inspirational or whatever,  _if I was Sheriff Cupcake_ ," Vi let out a bark of a laugh, which was echoed by the men and women before her; they knew what she would say next. "But we all know what we're here to do, right? We're here to protect Piltover and smash some scumbag  _face_!" she grinned, and slammed the knuckles of one gauntlet into the palm of the other with a loud clang.

The statement got a loud cheer out of the enforcers, who pumped a fist in the air or stamped their feet in anticipation. As some of the most zealous officers in the force, it was no shock that they were so eager to get their fists and weapons into something, and Vi only helped to encourage the attitude provided it wasn't their own allies they were attacking. Collateral damage was something strictly forbidden by Caitlyn, and while Vi was confident that the Sheriff might overlook it in her case, she didn't want to risk it with her enforcers. They were part of  _her_  division, and she would look out for them.

"Alright, you already got the plan from Cupcake so move out," Vi motioned for the enforcers to move along and followed them out of the empty warehouse they'd been using as an impromptu meeting room. The enforcers spread out and moved to their positions around the hidden line of Caitlyn's regular officers, ready to engage any criminals who tried to break through or capture any who tried to run.

Vi jogged along an alley between two warehouses, intent on reaching Caitlyn before the action started. She found the Sheriff giving last-minute instructions to a few emergency workers who were on-hand incase something went wrong. "Hey Cupcake, anything new?"

Caitlyn's eyebrow twitched upon hearing Vi use the annoying new nickname, but other than that she showed no sign of having even noticed it. "No new developments. You'll still cover the other side," she held up her radio so Vi could see. "Don't forget to warn me if you decide to do something."

"Yeah yeah," Vi took out her own radio and tossed it from hand to hand as she strolled away. A stiff sea breeze—provided by the ocean, which was within a mile of their location—blew up behind her, funneled into a weak gust by the narrow alley.

The other side of the building complex was a bit more quiet than the one she had just come from, and Vi had to admit that she didn't know how long she would be able to sit still and wait. She was just about to radio Caitlyn to ask if the incursion had begun at all when the wind shifted. It carried the faintest scent of... Vi couldn't pinpoint it right away, but she knew the smell. Some sort of engine oil. She ran through her mental list as a nearby officer noticed her puzzling.

"Something wrong, miss?"

"Engine oil," Vi held up a finger for the man to fall silent, which he did without question. The oil had a grungy smell, not refined like the varieties used in Piltover; there had been environmental mandates set in place that prohibited commercially-used oils from having toxic ingredients in them. But it was also heavy, with a stronger "body" than the oils used in techarriage engines. Vi took her radio in hand and dialed Caitlyn's frequency.

"This channel is supposed to be reserved for emergencies," Caitlyn's voice crackled quietly from Vi's radio, calm and collected as usual. "What happened?"

"Something's not right, I'm still trying to figure it out," Vi held the radio close and cupped in one glove in an attempt to avoid being overheard by the officers nearby, who were giving her odd looks at that very moment. The scent drifted toward her again, and this time she could pick out a distinct metallic tang within it, accompanied by a harsh, sour smell. Vi blinked. "They've got tanks," she just barely managed to keep her voice down.

"What kind?" Caitlyn sounded remarkably calm given the implications.

"Zaunite chemitanks from the smell. I ran across the same engine oil a few times before I went legit, the grease they use on the cannons, too. It's got a nasty sour smell, real heavy, kinda metallic, you can't go wrong when you get the two together."

The sigh Caitlyn let out could be heard clearly through Vi's radio. "You never considered telling me that there were individuals smuggling Zaunite tank equipment into Piltover?" she paused a moment and gathered her thoughts. Vi could almost see her pressing her thumb and index finger against the bridge of her nose, as it was a very common gesture Caitlyn used while thinking under pressure.

"I'm gonna go in."

"Alright," Caitlyn's reply came quickly, and her acceptance of Vi's plan was a surprise to the Enforcer. "Alert your enforcers, the attack will begin as soon as you move in. I don't have armor piercing rounds with me today, so I'll need a little time to spot weak points before I can join in." On her perch atop an adjacent warehouse, Caitlyn readied her rifle and trained her sights on the complex below. She spotted the garages big enough to contain the chemitanks almost instantly, and scolded herself for being lax enough for them to be present in the first place. How they managed to keep such a fact hidden from her would be revealed in due time.

Vi grinned; she'd never had the opportunity to brawl with one of Zaun's vaunted chemitanks, after all. She tuned her radio to the frequency used by the enforcers, and immediately every one of her men and women perked their ears as their radios crackled to life. "Change of plans, ladies and gents. They've got tanks and we need to rush them before the others can move in. And whoever brings down the most gets free drinks on me!" Vi clipped the radio on her belt and pushed past the officers in the line, who were even now being informed of the change by Caitlyn.

Caitlyn had ensured that her police force surround the complex quietly and without alerting the criminals to her presence, so there was a good chance that they were still unaware of their presence even now. Vi had to stop herself from slinking up on tiptoe just for the fun of it and crossed the open ground at a jog. The sentries should have been neutralized by now as well, either with tranquilizer darts from the officers on the ground or a well-aimed shot from Caitlyn if absolutely necessary.

As Vi neared the closest garage, she was able to pick out the sound of clattering tools and even that of a large engine being started. That would be one of the tanks. The crooks probably had well-hidden silence or noise cancellation spells to shield them from sharp ears, since such noises would be noticeable from outside the compound on quieter days.

Vi stopped just short of the rolling steel door and took a few moments to examine it: roughly twelve feet high, twenty feet wide, slats likely reinforced or padded to reduce noise. Now, how to remove it in the most personally entertaining way possible... The door was too big to simply tear off its frame, even for someone of Vi's strength. Vi regretted not being able to yank the door down; ripping such a big rolling steel door off its anchor like a wimpy little shower curtain would have definitely been a story worth telling over and over again. She would have to see about improving that once everything was over and she had some time to herself.

Well, there was nothing for it. Vi would have to do this the old fashioned way. She shook out her arms and took five steps back, one fist raised and charging as she prepared to make her entrance.

The workers who had been toiling away on their various projects were caught completely by surprise when Vi bashed clean through their rolling steel door, and several fell to her fists before any had a proper chance to react. Those nearest to the Zaunite chemitank grabbed any nearby ammo they could get their hands on and jumped inside the armored vehicle. A few moments later, the tank's engine roared to life and the metal giant began to move, its main gun swiveling in Vi's direction.

Vi dashed to the nearest bench and grabbed the man who stood in front of it, not to use him as a shield for the tank fire but to use as a projectile to take out a group of guards who had drawn their guns on her. Her aim was spot-on, and the hapless mechanic bowled straight into the line of guards and knocked them back several feet before they finally hit the floor. She then turned to the tank, which had almost managed to swivel enough to set its cannon's sights on her.

"Aw yeah," Vi dropped into a lower stance and surged forward. "You're just the guy I was waitin' for!" She positioned herself beneath the chemitank's cannon and grabbed onto it with one glove as it began to roll forward. With one heave of her arm Vi pulled herself up onto the main body of the vehicle and got to work on the cannon barrel. It was made of some fairly thick steel, but in the end it was no match for Vi's gauntlets.

Soon the first tank's cannon was bent upward and toward itself, a position that would prevent the men inside from firing if they were smart. The top hatch opened as Vi finished bending the cannon out of shape and a man with a rifle took aim at her. Vi looked up at the sound of the hatch clanging against the tank's top. She grabbed the barrel of the rifle and slammed her knuckles into the mechanic's face in one smooth movement, then wrenched it from his his hands. "Thanks, buddy," Vi raised the rifle and jammed it butt-first into the tank's left hand tread mechanism. "That's just the thing I needed."

The screech of malforming metal filled the garage as Vi turned on the two tanks that were approaching her from behind, leaving the first to spin uselessly in a circle. All told, there had been ten tanks spread around the compound, and soon all were ruined thanks to the surprise attack; had the criminals been prepared for a confrontation, the outcome might have been a grim one for Caitlyn's men. Vi's enforcers gradually found their way to her in order to report their success in person.

"Oho, so you guys were only able to take down three altogether? Guess I'm not buying anyone drinks tonight cause I took down three of 'em  _solo_ ," Vi grinned and gave her enforcers a shrug of fake regret.

"Actually, you owe  _me_  a drink," Caitlyn strolled up to the group, her rifle in hand and a smirk on her face. "I personally incapacitated no less than  _four_  tanks."

" _What?_ " Vi turned to Caitlyn, a look of surprise and disbelief on her face. "I call bullshit, there's no way you took down four!"

"Just ask your enforcers," Caitlyn gestured toward the group with her free hand. "They'll tell you who got the most."

"Yeah, sorry chief," one of the enforcers spoke up. "We saw her do it. Shot the treads right off the tanks."

Vi was in the process of giving Caitlyn her best stink eye when an explosion rocked the building. The harsh smell of a chemical fire followed soon after, and thick black smoke billowed from a door that had been blown off its hinges by the force of the explosion.

The nearest emergency worker tossed a fire extinguisher to Caitlyn as she made her way to the door. She retrieved a mask from a pouch of holding on her belt and waited for two firefighters to move in before going down herself.

Since she wasn't about to let Caitlyn have all the fun, Vi snatched a mask from the nearest firefighter she could find and went in as well. The door led to a set of stairs that disappeared into smoke-stained shadow, which was even now beginning to clear as the firefighters did their work. Vi arrived as the firefighters were moving deeper into the large workshop, and one of those nearest the back shoved a fire extinguisher into her hands when he saw her.

Caitlyn was combing over the pieces of the workshop's equipment that were still intact, moving along as the firemen extinguished the flames farther and farther in. She was either unaware that Vi had followed her or choose to ignore the fact. The blast had ruined much of the evidence, but Caitlyn was ever hopeful that there might be just enough left to find.

Vi turned the fire extinguisher over a few times, then held the tank carefully in her left hand while pinching the nozzle between the thumb and index finger of her right. She pointed the nozzle at a smouldering piece of table and gave the trigger an experimental squeeze. A jet of white foam shot out of the nozzle with a sound that was half hiss, half growl and blanketed the entire table remnant, giving it the appearance of an oddly-shaped snowdrift. A childish grin spread across Vi's face at the sight, and she dashed to the next area in need of extinguishing before the firefighters could get to it.

Most of the workroom had been destroyed in the explosion, much to Caitlyn's disappointment. Whoever had set the fire had been careful to put the most sensitive documents and equipment in the center of the destruction, where they would almost certainly be obliterated. "Any bodies?" she asked as one of the firefighters approached her.

"No ma'am," he shook his head and used the sleeve of his coat to remove some of the soot from his face mask. "No bodies, but we did find something interesting."

"Show me."

The firefighter nodded and led her to the far end of the lab, where a large bookcase rested on its side. Strangely, one of its corners had sunk into the ground, as if it had fallen into soft sand, or onto a trap door.

"Well," Caitlyn knelt before the bookcase and examined the sunken corner, which was cradled by a sheet of bent metal. "I have a fairly good guess as to where this goes."

Behind her, Vi was busily using her fire extinguisher to make  _extra_  sure that nothing was aflame, or even remotely warm. She had quickly grown tired of stationary fire extinguishing, and was now using her extinguisher to wet down the floor in front of her so she could slide around as she squirted everything. Since she was not being overly destructive and outranked everyone but Caitlyn, none of the officers could work up the courage to ask Vi to stop and simply left her to it as they gravitated toward their Sheriff.

Caitlyn stood and began clearing books off the shelves to make the whole piece easier to move, careful to stack them to the side in case they had any useful information. By the care taken in destroying everything else such a chance was slim, but Caitlyn refused to allow any potential information to be overlooked all the same.

With the books stacked a safe distance away and the shelf empty, she and one of her officers were able to push it off the trap door it had fallen into. The bookshelf fell to its other side with a loud crash and splintered into several pieces.

"Now, let's see—" Caitlyn had been about to kneel and lift the trapdoor when a thick stream of extinguisher foam splattered across her back, instantly soaking her clothes clean through. Several large globs of foam slid off Caitlyn's back and landed on the floor as she slowly straightened, each  _splot_  incredibly loud as the officers and firefighters held their collective breath for the coming storm. She whirled, and her eyes immediately settled on Vi, who still held the fire extinguisher she had been playing with earlier.

Vi had slipped and accidentally sprayed Caitlyn as she slid past, but that didn't stop her from pointing an accusatory finger at the officer standing next to her. The man gave her an angry glare and sidled away to stand with the other officers next to Caitlyn. Her attempt to pass the blame having failed, Vi gave Caitlyn her best innocent grin and braced herself for the worst.

Caitlyn glowered at Vi for a few moments, then held up two fingers. "That's two drinks you owe me now."

"Aw, what? Come on!"

"Unless you want to pay to have  _this_  cleaned instead, on top of the first drink," Caitlyn lifted one soaking layer of skirt with mock daintiness, showing another layer of equally wet fabric underneath.

"Ugh, fine. Two drinks," Vi didn't even want to imagine how much it might cost to get Caitlyn's outfit washed, it was probably dry clean only or something silly like that.

Caitlyn turned back to the trap door. "Now, as I was saying before I was so  _rudely_  interrupted," she shot a glance at Vi, who had been silently mocking her behind her back and immediately ceased when Caitlyn's eyes fell on her. "Let's see where this leads, shall we?"

Vi tossed the fire extinguisher aside with a loud clang and strutted up to the trap door. "Well why didn't ya say so?" she ripped the door off its hinges with one hand and stood aside so Caitlyn could pass. It would be best to behave for at least a little while as things stood now.

"Thank  _you_ ," Caitlyn's voice held no genuine gratitude, and she shot Vi a glance that warned her to stop fooling around before she caused a serious problem.

"Yer welcome,  _Cupcake_ ," Vi mumbled just loudly enough for only Caitlyn to overhear. She'd gotten the message, time to stop fooling around for a little bit.

Caitlyn accepted a lantern provided by one of her officers and stalked down the hidden staircase, eyes flicking from the stairs before her feet to those farther down while Vi and a few other officers filed in behind her. Her careful search yielded a potential clue about ten feet down, in the form of a cracked vial containing traces of white powder. She took a sample bag from a belt pouch and carefully put the vial inside, then continued on down the stairway.

About sixteen feet beyond the place the vial was found, the stairs came to a final halt at a large steel door. It was somewhat rusty, and the smell of rank seawater hung heavy in the air of the landing as Caitlyn eased the door open. The hinges creaked loudly, and the passage beyond ran ahead and to the left of the door, both ways too long for the lantern's light to penetrate.

It was the Piltover Underground, a complex network of tunnels that had been beneath the city's streets longer than any could remember. Of course the criminals would use this as an escape route.

"I'll see if I can pick up a trail," Caitlyn stepped out into the tunnel and turned back to Vi and her other officers. "Two of you come with me. Vi?"

"Hmm?" Vi had been examining the tunnel when Caitlyn called her name. "Yeah?"

"Get back up top and help our mechanics examine the tanks and other contraband we found, write down anything interesting you find or that you can connect to dealings you witnessed back in your criminal days."

Vi frowned and glanced down the tunnel again; she wanted to be a part of any excitement Caitlyn happened to run into. Though now that she thought about it, examining the tanks would likely be entertaining as well.

"There's no guarantee we'll be able to catch up," Caitlyn was already examining the mud at the party's feet, searching for any hint that might tell her what direction to pick. "But there  _is_  a guarantee that you'll be able to look at those big lovely chemitanks and perhaps learn something if you go up, right?"

"Yeah yeah," Vi lingered merely for the sake of acting difficult, then pushed past the other officers and started to climb the stairs.

The Enforcer arrived to find the building complex in chaos as criminals were carted off to Headquarters and the contraband loaded up for transport. She hitched a ride with one of the groups hauling a tarp-covered tank and arrived back at Headquarters within half an hour. The tanks were indeed interesting, though Vi didn't find anything worth adding to her gauntlet design.

Vi was still examining the tanks and the modifications made to them when Caitlyn and her group arrived back at Headquarters at nine in the evening. Finnegan arrived shortly after to inform Vi that the trail had gone cold at around five, and that Caitlyn had been trying to pick it up again ever since. It had been a good choice to examine the tanks after all; at least Vi had something to show for her work.

"She able to chat?" Vi rolled herself out from under the tank she had been dismantling, eager to show off what she'd discovered and perhaps learn what that white powder had been.

"Yes, but I must warn you she's not in the best of moods," Finnegan stepped aside as Vi got to her feet and stretched her back. "She might cheer up if you found something interesting on these."

"Yep, was already gonna do that," Vi snatched her notepad off the worktable as she passed and made her way up to Caitlyn's office.

Caitlyn had just sat down to a hot cup of tea when Vi entered her office. The Sheriff wore a thick blanket draped over her shoulders to ward off the residual chill of the Underground, and Vi wondered if she had taken the time to properly dry off during the course of her search. "I trust that you found more than I did," she set the cup down on her desk and got to her feet, revealing skirts that were stiff and somewhat wrinkled.

Vi felt relieved that she had opted to buy Caitlyn another drink rather than pay to get her outfit cleaned. "Yeah, they made some weird mods to the cannons," she passed the notepad to Caitlyn. "So did you find out what that white powder stuff was?"

"No, unfortunately," Caitlyn briefly skimmed Vi's notes, then looked up at her again. "There were only traces left, not enough for our lab to ID it," she squinted at Vi's notes. "Did you figure out what the modifications would be used for?"

"Yeah, some kinda gas projectile, they only had regular ammo at the garage though, so I guess they didn't get to make it yet," Vi leaned to her right to get a look at which part of her notes Caitlyn was going over.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Caitlyn let out an annoyed sigh and passed the notepad back to Vi, "Here, see if you can figure anything out tomorrow." She sat down behind her desk again and took a large gulp of tea. "By the way, good job today. Your enforcers did very well, too."

"Well just goes to show you shoulda put me in charge earlier," Vi grinned, though her false bravado sounded painful to her own ears. There had been doubts on Vi's side for the first few days, but she had managed to pull through.

Caitlyn let the comment slide and picked up a file to review while she finished her tea. "Seems that way," her tone was light and relaxed, but Vi took the comment as a dismissal; there really wasn't much else to say on the matter for now.

"Well, I'm gonna head out," Vi stifled a yawn. "See ya tomorrow, Cupcake."

"And you, Vi," Caitlyn nodded at Vi as the Enforcer let herself out. Her mouth stretched into a satisfied smile once Vi was gone, and she leaned back in her chair. Who would have guessed that the best way to reign Vi in was to give her more responsibilities. The Enforcers Division was a success, and the task of running the group helped to channel Vi's boundless energy into more useful avenues.

Caitlyn left her chair and went to the window, where the lights of Piltover illuminated the night sky. Her own burden of responsibility felt lighter after all this, too. It was a relief in all honesty, since Caitlyn hadn't realized how bad the stress was until it was gone. The future seemed bright, all things considered.

And yet...

Caitlyn's head tipped forward slightly, her eyebrows knit in thought. A threat was brewing, that was the surest thing, and now she had to find a way to unmask it. The window fogged with Caitlyn's breath as she continued to think, reviewing all that had happened and trying to form a likely scenario for what might happen next. Finally she pinched the bridge of her nose and stepped away from the window. It was late, she needed to get some sleep if she were to return to work in peak condition on the morrow.

Whatever was out there waiting, Caitlyn felt glad for the fact that she would have Vi at her side when she faced it.


End file.
